Filaret: Kiev Patriarchate de facto exists

“Honorary Patriarch” of the OCU Filaret Denisenko

The Kiev Patriarchate still exists, Filaret Denisenko, the “Honorary Patriarch” of the OCU said in an interview with "Glavcom".

“De jure, there is no Kiev Patriarchate, but de facto it is. Because there is a patriarch,” declared Filaret.

According to him, the believers of the Kiev Patriarchate agreed to the metropolis from the Phanar only for the “transition period” to come to the patriarchate.

“We agree to receive the Tomos of autocephaly in the status of a metropolis. It is like a transitional period. And therefore, there is a patriarch, but there is no recognized patriarchate yet. And this existence of the patriarch reminds everyone that we are not renouncing the patriarchate, we are going to it,” the “honorary patriarch” of the new church structure manifested.

Filaret promised to seek the status of the patriarchate for his “Church” and said that he had specifically asked the “clergy” of the new church structure to commemorate the “patriarch”.

“I asked to commemorate the patriarch during divine services. In order to remind the faithful that our goal is a patriarchate. So that they do not forget that the metropolis is not our final goal. And the commemoration of the patriarch on both sides should remind that it is necessary to pray that there is a patriarch in Ukraine,” “Patriarch” Filaret commented on his position.

The “head” of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko, on the contrary, declared that neither the UOC KP nor the UAOC exists any longer in Ukraine. After all, Constantinople demanded before the “unification council” on December 15, 2018, that the UOC KP and UAOC should be dissolved. “Before the Council, there was a certain condition on the part of Constantinople that the structures that are uniting, the UOC KP and the UAOC, must take the Council’s decision that they dissolve as structures and go to the Unification Council,” Epiphany explained. “And in the morning (December 15, 2018, - Ed.), when we arrived at the St. Sophia Cathedral of Kiev, a condition arose that representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarch did not begin the Unification Council until the decision to dissolve the Kiev Patriarchate was signed.” According to the assurances of the head of the new church structure, the process of liquidation of the Kiev Patriarchate is still underway, but the Statute of the UOC KP is already removed from registration.

We recall that the Kiev Patriarchate has not yet been removed by the Ministry of Justice from registration, and therefore exists not only de facto, but also de jure.

Read also