Should His Beatitude commemorate the head of the ROC or not?

Metropolitan Onuphriy. Photo: UOC press service

At the end of January, American Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Constantinople Church criticized the hierarchs and Primate of the UOC for not commemorating Patriarch Kirill.

'Since these hierarchs (UOC. – Ed.), and possibly Metropolitan Onuphrius himself, refuse to commemorate the Patriarch of the ROC, how can they claim that they are the canonical Church?" the archbishop asks. And here it must be noted that from the side of the Phanar hierarch, this is not at all concern for the canonical status of the UOC, but an attempt to advance the interests of his structure. Literally in the next sentence, he calls on His Beatitude Onuphrius to commemorate the Constantinople Patriarch instead of the Russian Patriarch.

And a few days later, MP Bobrovska stated that she would write to the SBU because Metropolitan Onuphriy commemorates Patriarch Kirill. Supposedly, it's terrible when Onuphriy commemorates the Russian Patriarch, but not the Constantinople and Alexandrian ones.

There is also a third party – some «experts and interpreters» of canons living in the north. They cannot stand Archbishop Elpidophoros, but on the issue of commemorating or not commemorating the ROC Patriarch in Ukraine, they find themselves in a situational alliance with him. They agree that His Beatitude does not commemorate the ROC Patriarch but disagree that the UOC should commemorate Patriarch Bartholomew.

And we are perplexed. The Primate of the UOC has been commemorating the name of the head of the ROC along with the names of other Primates of Local Churches during the Great Entrance since May 2022. For almost 4 years now, he has been doing this at every service using the same formula. But nevertheless, for some he "does not commemorate" Patriarch Kirill, and this is bad. For other, he "commemorates" him, and this is also bad. For a third group, he commemorates "but not properly", and this is again bad.

Fierce battles are being waged on social networks and screens about how Metropolitan Onuphrius should act and how he should not.

The Primate does not read any of this. He simply prays, for some, and for others, and for the third group…

Read also