UOC bishop: Recognizing schismatics, Phanar struck a blow to all Orthodoxy

Patriarch Bartholomew and Epiphany Dumenko. Photo: gov.ua

By recognizing the schismatics, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople struck a blow to the entire Church and destroyed the canonical system of Orthodoxy. Archbishop Nikolai (Pochtovy) of Vasylkiv said this at the round table "The Basic Law of Ukraine and its Application in Relation to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church."

The hierarch recalled that until 2014, Patriarch Bartholomew would always support the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and call everything by its proper name: there is a canonical Church, which was then headed by His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir of Kyiv and All Ukraine, and now by His Beatitude Onuphry, and there are schismatics.

With his subsequent recognition of the Ukrainian schismatics, the head of Phanar struck a blow to the entire Orthodox Church, the archbishop emphasized.

“He (Patriarch Bartholomew – Ed.) condemned the schismatics, headed by the so-called "patriarch" Filaret and supported the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It was Patriarch Bartholomew who made a significant blow to the entire Church in the world when he had recognized the schismatics as ostensibly canonical. It simply undermined the canonical system of the Orthodox Church. The schismatics were recognized as canonical one-sidedly, rather than conciliarly,” said Archbishop Nikolai, adding that in his actions the head of the Phanar was guided not by the canons of the Church but by political expediency.

As reported by the UOJ, Archbishop Nikolai (Pochtovy) noted that Patriarch Bartholomew, who positions himself as the "father" of Ukraine, in reality led to the division of Ukrainians and enmity between them by his actions.

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