Synod of OCCLS supports a meeting of Primates on “Ukrainian issue”

Metropolitan Rostislav, Primate of the OCCLS. Photo: open sources

On December 17, at a session of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia (OCCLS), which took place in Prague, the hierarchs supported the proposal of Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem to hold a meeting of Primates of Local Orthodox Churches in Jordan in February 2020, reports the official site of the OCCLS.

The Holy Synod of OCCLS adopted a resolution on the issue of recognizing the autocephaly of the OCU, in which it supported the convening of Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches in Jordan. The Synod welcomes the start of an official dialogue on resolving the church crisis in Ukraine.

In the decision, the Synod also addressed the issue of the concelebration of Bishop Isaiah of the Olomouc and Brno diocese with representatives of the OCU on November 21, 2019, in Kyiv. The hierarchs called the incident "a misunderstanding" and called on the members of the OCCLS in their foreign activities to "fully respect the resolution on a restrained attitude towards the OCU" till a pan-Orthodox consensus was reached.

“The Synod insists on its resolution, adopted in February 2019, on the restrained position of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia towards the ‘Orthodox Church of Ukraine’ in the anticipation of a pan-Orthodox consensus, and calls on its members to fully respect this resolution in their foreign activities.” 

In addition, the Synod forbade the representatives of other Orthodox Churches to create their own stauropegial structures on the territory of the OCCLS, which, first of all, is directed against the "Holy Patriarchal Stavropegial Monastery of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary", which was established by representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople with the support of Bishop Isaiah.

Earlier, Archbishop George of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia denied the statement of the hierarch of the Patriarchate of Constantinople that the stauropegial monastery was founded with the consent of the OCCLS. According to the hierarch, the Synod did not decide on the creation of a new monastery in the Czech Republic.

As reported, on November 21, 2019, the head of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia Metropolitan Rostislav sharply criticized Bishop Isaiah of Olomouc and Brno diocese for concelebrating with the schismatics, finding his participation in the celebrations of the OCU “a manifestation of gross neglect and disregard” for the decision of the OCCLS Synod.

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