Phanar’s statement is another move in church-political game, – UOC cleric

The head of the press service of the Volyn eparchy of the UOC, Protopriest Oleg Tochinsky

The head of the press service of the Volyn eparchy of the UOC said this in the commentary to "Strana.ua".

"The Greeks want to regain their former glory and authority in the ecclesiastic field with all their might, for which reason they agree to such adventures," said the representative of the UOC. "Ukraine in this situation acts only as a kind of battlefield."

According to Protopriest Oleg Tochinsky, the statement of Patriarch Bartholomew does not quite fit in with the results of the recent visit of the delegation of the UOC to Phanar, followed by several very serious messages from the first persons of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

"It must also be taken into account that, to our great disappointment, Patriarch Bartholomew’s words that Phanar does not recognize the accession of the Churches of Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland to Moscow can be nothing more than an element of a long-lasting struggle for influence," the protopriest suggested.

In Fr. Oleg’s view, speaking of the non-recognition of the accession of the Ukrainian territories to the Moscow Patriarchate, the Phanariots prefer to keep silent the fact that, as a result of their signing of the Florentine Union in 1439 with the Pope, they actually lost the palm of primacy and any claims to their once canonical territories.

"We cannot rule out that Bartholomew's statement is yet another move in the church-political game that is not fully understood to us," said the head of the press service of the Volyn eparchy of the UOC. "Especially this statement has logic, given that the Phanar delegation will soon arrive in Moscow to discuss the Ukrainian church issue."

On July 1, 2018, Patriarch Bartholomew said, "Constantinople has never transferred the territory of Ukraine to anyone with any Act, except for the right of consecration of the Kiev [metropolitan] in Moscow under conditions of his election in Kiev at the local Council and with the commemoration of the Ecumenical Patriarch."

The ROC stated that they intend to discuss the Ukrainian church issue with the representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in early July.

In mid-April, Poroshenko turned to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople with a request to provide the Tomos on autocephaly of the Church in Ukraine and announced the creation of the United Local Church. The Verkhovna Rada supported the appeal of the President.

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