Metropolitan Theodosiy explains why he does not address Patriarch Kirill

Metropolitan Theodosiy in Vinnytsia. Photo: Vinnytsia Eparchy Press Service

In an interview with Vinnytsia priest Fr. Roman Makar, Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv answered the question of why he does not appeal to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow with calls to influence the Russian authorities, even though he recently addressed Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

The podcast host asked directly:

“Would you not want to write a similar appeal to Patriarch Kirill, asking him to influence the Moscow authorities, just as you said that Patriarch Bartholomew could influence the Ukrainian authorities so that they would stop persecuting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church? So that Patriarch Kirill could influence the Russian authorities and stop the war?”

Metropolitan Theodosiy categorically rejected such a possibility:

“Of course not, because my appeal to Patriarch Bartholomew was purely ecclesiastical – about church life, church problems, and church perspectives. But what you are suggesting is that I write a letter to Patriarch Kirill about political problems, political questions, political viewpoints, and political proposals for political solutions.”

Answering a follow-up question about whether it would be possible to make public statements addressed to the Moscow Patriarchate regarding its cooperation with the government, Metropolitan Theodosiy explained the legal risks involved:

“Fr. Roman, you are now giving implicitly political evaluations to everything that is happening. I remind you once again that we are in different conditions – unequal ones.”

The hierarch directly pointed to the criminal liability such actions entail:

“If you give political assessments contrary to the official ones, you immediately fall under Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for up to eight years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.”

As a reminder, at the end of September 2025, Metropolitan Theodosiy recorded an open appeal to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, calling on him to acknowledge his mistakes regarding the Ukrainian issue and warning him against causing a major schism in global Orthodoxy.

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