Filaret accuses Epiphany of interfering in the affairs of another "Church"

Head of the UOC-KP Filaret Denisenko. Photo: UNIAN

The head of the UOC KP Filaret said that a commission on the liquidation of the UOC-KP was set up in the OCU and accused Epiphany of interfering in the affairs of another “Church”. Filaret's address to Epiphany Dumenko was published on the UOC-KP Facebook page.

In particular, Filaret reports that he received information that Epiphany Dumenko and the “holy synod” of the OCU created “a liquidation commission headed by Metropolitan John (Yaremenko) of Cherkassy on the liquidation of the Kiev Patriarchy of the UOC-Kiev Patriarchate as a legal entity and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate”.

In this regard, the head of the UOC-KP draws the attention of the head of the OCU to the fact that the latter “does not have the right to make such decisions, since the Kiev Patriarchy and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate are not part of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Though we are an unrecognized autocephalous Church, but independent,” noted Filaret.

He reminded Dumenko that “On June 20, 2019, the Local Council, the supreme governing body of the UOC-Kiev Patriarchate held at St. Vladimir’s Cathedral in Kiev decided to prolong the Kiev Patriarchate and withdraw from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine”.

Addressing Epiphany Denisenko, Denisenko emphasized, “You have no authority over our Church and your decision to establish a liquidation commission is not valid, as it is an interference in the internal life of another Church.”

We recall that earlier Filaret Denisenko said that the OCU violates the canons since, according to him, this structure has three ruling hierarchs in each city. 

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