UAOC tries to establish contacts with Constantinople Patriarchate

Representatives of the Kyiv Patriarchate also reported of the meeting of Filaret with Bishop Hilarion.

"Representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople came to Kiev and met with His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine," the deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the UOC, Protopriest Nikolai Danilevich, said to a UOJ correspondent. "But we did not officially report about this meeting, as it was of a working nature. They came to understand the situation that arose after the recent letter of Patriarch Filaret to the ROC episcopate. This letter was also a surprise to Fanar. Therefore, in fact, nothing extraordinary happened and this visit will not have any far-reaching consequences for church affairs in our country. At the same time, it was unpleasant for the UOC to find out that the representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople violated the canonical order and held meetings with the schismatics, without agreeing them with our Church. So it is accepted that, being in the canonical territory of the Local Church, representatives of other Churches should not do anything without coordination with the local bishop. Clerics of other Churches should not forget that despite the church schism, the canonical territory of the UOC is not a public thoroughfare, where everyone can act on their own. On the contrary, the observance by the clergymen of other Churches of the canonical order in the delicate conditions of our interconfessional situation could even help normalize the complicated situation with the church schism in the country, or at least not do harm."

Protopriest Nikolai Danilevich stressed that, despite the communication with the schismatic structures, the position of Fanar remains unchanged: the Patriarchate of Constantinople supports the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, as has been repeatedly stated.

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