KDA rector explains why Letter does not mean subordination of UOC to Moscow

Archbishop Sylvester of Bilohorodka, Rector of the Kyiv Theological Schools. Photo: kdais.kiev.ua

In the report “The Blessed Letter of Patriarch Alexy II (1990) and the Current Canonical Status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” the rector of the Kyiv Theological Schools, Archbishop Sylvester of Bilohorodka, explained the canonical position of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the press service of KDA reports.

Archbishop Sylvester noted that after the UOC Council on May 27, 2022, in Feofania, a broad discussion unfolded in society and the Church regarding the real status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The main subject of disputes is the first provision of the new Statute of the UOC, which mentions the Letter of Patriarch Alexy II of1990. Some interpret this as evidence of the ongoing dependence of the UOC on the Russian Orthodox Church.

The KDA rector noted that the 2022 Statute radically changed the previous version, removing all direct references to the connection of the UOC with the ROC: provisions regarding subordination to the decisions of the ROC Bishops' Council, the blessing of the Primate of the UOC by the Moscow Patriarch, the permanent membership of the Metropolitan of Kyiv in the Synod of the ROC, and others were excluded.

“Thus, the mention of this Letter of 1990 in the first point of the updated Statute is not an indication of our Church's affiliation with the Moscow Patriarchate,” the report states.

Therefore, the mention of the Letter is not an act of subordination, but an indication of the beginning of a new institutional phase in the history of the UOC.

To support this thesis, the bishop recalled the letter of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy to the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) dated September 28, 2022, which clearly states: the UOC possesses full canonical independence. The Letter of Patriarch Alexy II no longer defines the canonical life of the Church, but is merely a historical document.

The KDA rector noted that the practice of recent decades proves the independence of the UOC: its bishops communicated directly with the hierarchs of other Local Churches, without the involvement of the Moscow Patriarchate. Moreover, with the onset of Russian military aggression, the UOC completely ceased even formal diplomatic interaction with the ROC.

“We independently carry out missions abroad and independently maintain Eucharistic and prayerful communion with other Local Churches,” emphasized Archbishop Sylvester.

As reported by the UOJ, His Beatitude Onuphry published an address for the anniversary of the Council in Feofania.

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