Dumenko assures Phanar of aspiration for "unity and dialogue" in Ukraine

Dumenko telling Patriarch Bartholomew about the unity of Orthodoxy in Ukraine. Photo: Phanar's press service

On January 5, 2025, during a meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew at the Phanar, the head of the OCU, Serhiy Dumenko, declared his readiness to work on church unity in Ukraine.

"We repeatedly testify that we strive to establish church unity in Ukraine and are sincerely open to constructive dialogue based on the Tomos of autocephaly," Dumenko noted in his speech.

How these words align with his regular statements that church unity in Ukraine has long been achieved, he did not specify.

According to Dumenko, he and his colleagues came to Istanbul "to testify to our spiritual and prayerful unity and to ask the Lord in this sacred center of Orthodoxy on the great feast of Theophany for the victory of truth and the establishment of a just peace for Ukraine».

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that, according to Dumenko, the OCU celebrates Christmas to gain strength to fight the enemy.

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