ROC hierarch: Church to be created in Ukraine will be schismatic

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), the head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR)

The actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople destroy Orthodox unity. This was stated on November 5 by the head of the DECR of the Russian Orthodox Church Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk (Alfeyev) in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“The decision announced by Constantinople to advance the project of creating an autocephalous church structure on our territory in parallel and contrary to the canonical Church, which has served in Ukraine for centuries and in all the trials and joys remained with its people, is obviously a non-canonical act,” the bishop explained.

According to him, “whatever the procedures for the implementation of this decision are, they will not be able to give it legitimacy. The schismatics who did not repent of their deeds, even if accepted into the communion by Constantinople, remain schismatics, and the structure which they will join will also be a schism.”

“Modern society is rapidly becoming de-Christianized. It calls into question such immutable, as it seemed before, values as family, morality, the traditional way of life. In the Middle East, Christians are being persecuted, and in the countries of Western culture, formed, as it would seem, within the framework of Christian civilization, believers in Christ are often subject to restrictions and oppression. All this requires of us a common reaction, a common testimony, which is undermined by the actions of Constantinople, which destroy Orthodox unity,” Metropolitan Hilarion emphasized.

“There is a way to heal the division - you just need to return to unity, and therefore, not to align yourself with the leaders of the schism, to keep the conciliar organisation of the Church, not to attempt to claim for more rights than other Churches, not to intrude into other Local Churches’ territory. Let's hope for it and pray for it,” he concluded.

As the UOJ reported, earlier the head of the DECR of the Russian Orthodox Church Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk (Alfeyev) said that the ambitions of Constantinople lead to the destruction of the conciliar principle in the life of the Church and the ROC will never agree with the claims of the Constantinople Patriarchate for canonical privileges.

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