A fake about Romanian Church “recognizing” OCU circulates on the Web

Several Ukrainian media distorted the text of the decision of the Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Photo: m.ru.delfi.lt

On February 14, 2020, in the Network actively molested the fake that the Romanian Orthodox Church allegedly recognized the OCU is actively picked up by a number of websites, including “Interfax-Ukraine” and “UNIAN” news agencies, the “Golos UA” media group and a number of other Ukrainian resources.

Disseminators of the fake news mentioned either the Greek news agency Romfea.gr or one of their Ukrainian colleagues in the media as the primary source.

"The Holy Synod of the Romanian Church initially agrees with the provision of autocephaly but emphasizes that it is necessary to reach a consensus between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Moscow Patriarchate," report Romfea.gr employees. Accordingly, the Ukrainian media circulated the information that the OCU was recognized by the Synod of the Romanian Church.

Meanwhile, all the above-mentioned media representatives distorted one part of the decisions of the Synod of the Romanian Church and decided to "throw away" the other part, which eventually led to the creation of the fake.

And although the outlets inform the readers that the Romanian Patriarchate has recognized the OCU, however, the official website of the Romanian Patriarchate clearly states that "the Holy Synod of the Romanian Church allows the granting of autocephaly for the whole Orthodox Church in Ukraine (and not just part of it). That is, it goes about the Church in the territory of Ukraine, and not about the specific religious structure of the OCU. 

Also, all the above-mentioned resources say that the Romanian Church expressed its desire only to reach an agreement between the Phanar and the ROC.

In particular, “Interfax” reported: "The Synod initially agrees with the provision of autocephaly, but a consensus must be reached between the Ecumenical and Moscow Patriarchates".

At the same time, the original resolution says that the Ukrainian problem can only be solved by a council: "Only through mutual understanding between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Moscow Patriarchate and the pan-Orthodox consensus". That is, the reference to the need for pan-Orthodox consensus was removed from the text.

As reported earlier, the Romanian Orthodox Church is going to participate in the Council of Primates in Amman.

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