OCU tells about the meeting with the Phanar delegates

Meeting between the OCU and the Constantinople Patriarchate delegation. Photo: OCU

On August 22, 2024, the head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Epifaniy Dumenko, received a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate at his residence, according to the OCU press service.

The delegation included Metropolitan Hilarion of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, Archbishop of Winnipeg, Metropolitan Iov of Pisidia, and Patriarchal Deacon Epiphanios (Kamianovych). The meeting was described as taking place in a "warm and fraternal ambience".

During the meeting, Epifaniy thanked the guests for their visit and discussed the religious and socio-political situation in Ukraine.

Special attention was given to inter-church dialogue and countering Russian propaganda. Dumenko emphasized that the OCU is open to dialogue without any preconditions or ultimatums:

"Real and sincere dialogue, which is supposed to have real prospects, cannot start otherwise than with simple communication without preliminary calls for capitulation, which are inherently unachievable. We are once again taking steps towards dialogue, and a week ago I again appealed to Metropolitan Onufriy with a request to start dialogue... So far, we have not received any positive response," he said.

Epifaniy informed the Ecumenical Patriarchate delegates about his attempts to initiate dialogue over the past five years.

"It was announced that there were three demands, which mean that we must renounce the decisions of the Mother Church, the Tomos, and everything the Ecumenical Patriarch did for Ukraine. Is it possible to meet such conditions if they are aimed not at unity but at destroying the Local Church? It is obvious that such ultimatums cannot be accepted. Therefore, we emphasize that we should talk without preconditions, sit down, have tea or coffee, look each other in the eyes, talk from a clean slate about how to act further, rather than remembering all past grievances. And if Metropolitan Onufriy agrees, I can sit down and talk with him tomorrow," the head of the OCU noted.

Metropolitan Hilarion also highlighted the importance of dialogue for the unity of Orthodoxy: "Your appeal is a positive step towards unity, and we hope that dialogue will be established so that enemies do not use the division."

At the end of the meeting, the delegation presented Epifaniy with a copy of the ancient mosaic icon of the Mother of God 'Pammakaristos' and a reduced copy of the cross that adorned the dome of the Hagia Sophia. In return, Metropolitan Epifaniy gifted the guests with commemorative panagias and books, as well as a copy of the icon of Christ Pantocrator.

As reported by the UOJ, during Epifaniy Dumenko's last visit to the Phanar on August 12-13, the Patriarch Bartholomew demanded that the head of the OCU explain the forceful seizures of UOC churches. The head of the OCU was unable to respond to this question.

Read also

UOC hierarch: Govt using holy relics that Lenin took away from believers

From a legal standpoint, many churches today belong to the state, but morally, this is unjust, explains Metropolitan Theodosiy.