Patriarch Bartholomew commemorates OCU head in the presence of BOC Patriarch
Patriarch Bartholomew and Patriarch Daniel. Photo: Orthodoxia News Agency
On December 26, 2025, during a joint Divine Liturgy of the Constantinopolitan and Bulgarian Patriarchs, Patriarch Bartholomew commemorated the head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Serhii Dumenko, in the presence of the Primate of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
At the same time, representatives of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine did not take part in the joint service. The commemoration was carried out within the diptychs of the Constantinople Patriarchate and was not accompanied by concelebration with OCU “hierarchs”.
The very fact of commemoration does not signify any change in the official position of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church regarding the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Earlier, Patriarch Daniel repeatedly emphasized that the Bulgarian Church has not recognized the OCU and does not mention it in its own diptychs.
In December 2025, Patriarch Daniel stated that representatives of the OCU would not participate in joint services at the Phanar during his visit to the Ecumenical Patriarch. “The Bulgarian Orthodox Church has not recognized the OCU and does not mention it in the diptychs,” Patriarch Daniel stressed. According to him, this understanding had been reached in advance and taken into account during preparations for the visit.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Bulgarian Patriarch would make an official visit to the Phanar.
Read also
National Memory Institute: Lavra is sacred center for Catholics and Protestants
The head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, Oleksandr Alferov, said the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra is a shared shrine for Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians.
Dumenko calls reopening of Near Caves a step toward victory over Russia
The head of the OCU commented on the reopening of the Lavra’s Near Caves, which the authorities shut down back in August 2023 without explaining why.
TRC staff abducts rector of UOC’s Alexander Nevsky Church in the capital
In Kyiv, the TRC detained Archpriest Yaroslav Kruhlenko.
In Podgorica, multi-thousand procession held on city's patron saint day
Thousands of believers walked in a procession through the capital of Montenegro, honoring the memory of Saint Simeon the Myrrh-Streaming.
Persecuted UOC parish in Zeleniv reads Great Canon
A Bukovynian Orthodox community, deprived of its church in 2024, conducts Great Lent services in an adapted facility.
Patriarch Bartholomew warns against unacceptable peace for Ukraine
The head of the Constantinople Church stated that to achieve peace in Ukraine, the leaders of nations must take the "narrow path of justice."