KDA holds round table on significance of Nicene Council

A round table "Conciliarity in the Life of the Orthodox Church: From the Councils of Antiquity to the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Feofania." Photo: KDAiS

On May 20, 2025, a round table titled “Conciliarity in the Life of the Orthodox Church: From the Councils of Antiquity to the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Feofania” was held at the Kyiv Theological Academy (KDA). As reported by the press service of the KDA, the event was dedicated to the 1700th anniversary of the First (Nicaean) Ecumenical Council (325) and the third anniversary of the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church at the St. Panteleimon Monastery (Feofania).

The round table was chaired by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine.

Participants in the round table included: the head of the Department for Religious Affairs of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience Vyacheslav Horshkov, the chairman of the Educational Committee of the Holy Synod of the UOC Metropolitan Clement of Nizhyn and Pryluky, the rector of the Kyiv Theological Academy Archbishop Sylvester of Bilohorodka, Metropolitan Viktor of Khmelnytskyi and Starokostiantyniv, the vicar of the Odesa Eparchy Archbishop Viktor of Artsiz, the vice-rector of the Poltava Missionary Theological Seminary Archbishop Benjamin of Novosanzhary, the vice-rector for educational work of the Kyiv Theological Academy Archbishop Amvrosiy of Zghuriv, the vice-rector for educational and methodological work of the Kyiv Theological Academy Bishop Panteleimon of Baturyn, the head of the postgraduate studies of the Kyiv Theological Academy Bishop Filaret of Baryshiv, the scientific secretary of the Sumy Theological Seminary Archimandrite Anastasy (Panov), the vice-rector for educational work of the Volyn Theological Seminary Archimandrite Theophan (Kyryliuk), the scientific secretary of the Kharkiv Theological Seminary Priest Dmitriy Tarasov, the vice-rector for research work of the Poltava Missionary Theological Seminary Archpriest Serhiy Yablunovsky, professors and teachers of the Kyiv Theological Seminary.

In his greeting to the participants of the meeting, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry characterized the historical significance of the First Ecumenical Council as a certain model for all subsequent church councils. He recalled the main decisions made on May 27, 2022, by the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church at the Feofania Monastery, and spoke about the current canonical status of the UOC. In particular, His Beatitude noted that the Council, which took place three years ago at the Feofania Monastery, “fundamentally changed the life of our Church”.

Reports presented at the round table included:

Archbishop Sylvester of Bilohorodka «The Blessed Letter of Patriarch Alexy II (1990) and the Modern Canonical Status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church»;

Vyacheslav Gorshkov «State-Church Relations in the Context of Russian Military Aggression: Challenges for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church»;

Metropolitan Viktor of Khmelnytskyi and Starokostiantyniv «The Decision of the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Feofania through the Prism of the Historical Experience of the Church in Ukrainian Lands in the 20th Century»;

Archbishop Viktor of Artsiz «The Revival of Icon Painting in Kyiv»;

Archpriest Serhiy Yushchik «The Humanitarian Activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church during the Full-Scale Invasion of Russian Troops into Ukraine, the Significance of the Decisions of the Church Council on May 27, 2022, and Modern Challenges»;

Volodymyr Bureha «On the Mechanisms for Creating Autocephalous Churches (in the Context of the Modern Status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church)»;

Hieromonk Herman (Kovach) «The Theological and Canonical Dimension of the Conciliarity of the Church in Retrospective of the Decisions of the I Ecumenical Council».

Each report was followed by discussions.

«In particular, there was an open and substantive dialogue between the bishops who participated in the round table and V. V. Gorshkov, who answered numerous questions regarding the research on the presence of signs of affiliation of the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with the Russian Orthodox Church. All participants in the round table noted the necessity of maintaining constructive communication between church institutions and state authorities to prevent conflicts and misunderstandings,» the message states.

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

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