A year ago, Phanar explained to Dumenko what the Statute of OCU should be

Epifaniy Dumenko and Patriarch Bartholomew. Photo: risu

On September 1, a publication close to the OCU released an unofficial Ukrainian translation of a letter dated July 26, 2023, from Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew to Epifaniy (Dumenko). The letter, reportedly delivered to its recipients on the eve of the OCU’s "council" on July 27, addressed what the statute of the OCU should entail. According to the article, the wishes of Patriarch Bartholomew were not publicly mentioned at the OCU "council," as reported by media quoting participants of the event.

In his response to Epifaniy’s letter, Patriarch Bartholomew explained how foundational documents could be adopted.

NB. The translation provided below is free.

"...You also inform us of your intention to codify various provisions and acts into a single document to implement the provisions of the Statute of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. We appreciate the clarifications provided in your letter on this matter and express great satisfaction with your unequivocal statement that the Tomos of Autocephaly and the Statute of your Church are not violated by specific provisions of this document, which will be adopted during the future Council. We are also pleased to read in the preamble that these norms comply with the Tomos and the Statute," his response reads.

The head of the Ecumenical Patriarchate further offers recommendations for including "useful" clarifications in the mentioned provisions.

"In the same spirit, and to avoid any possible ambiguities in interpretation, we will find it useful to include in this document the final version of the article, which will clearly state that 'the articles of these Provisions will be interpreted in light of the Tomos of Autocephaly and the Statute of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and in case of disagreements, the norms of these two documents will prevail,'" he writes to Epifaniy.

According to the publication, the head of the Phanar addressed similar remarks to other participants of this council. "However, as our editorial team has learned directly from participants of the Council, nothing of the sort from Patriarch Bartholomew was read out at the OCU Council," the report states.

As the UOJ previously reported, the Patriarchate of Constantinople was dissatisfied with its meeting with Dumenko.

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