Patriarch Bartholomew: We pray for Ukrainians to unite around Epifaniy

Patriarch Bartholomew and Epifaniy Dumenko. Photo: wikinews.org

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople stated that the Phanar is praying for the entire Ukrainian people to unite around the "canonical metropolitan," Epifaniy Dumenko, UOJ-Bulgaria reports.

According to the Phanar head, many blame Constantinople for the current crisis in the Orthodox world because it granted autocephaly to the OCU. However, the Patriarch emphasized that the Phanar continues to believe that "many millions of our Ukrainian brothers had the right to gain their internal independence" and free themselves from dependence on Moscow, which, he said, "has in fact proved to be an enemy of the Ukrainian people rather than a brother in the faith."

"The Ecumenical Patriarchate, as the Mother Church, granted autocephaly to Ukraine, and we pray that the entire Ukrainian people will accept this decision of the Mother Church of Constantinople as soon as possible and unite around the canonical Primate, Metropolitan Epifaniy, who was elected by the Unification Council in December 2018," he said.

Addressing believers who do not recognize the OCU, the Phanar head urged those who "still dream of Moscow" to stop doing so. "It bombs them every day, destroying their churches, hospitals, and schools," the Patriarch added, calling the blessing of war as something sacred "a great sin before God." "For us, this is a diabolical war," he declared.

Bartholomew also accused Patriarch Kirill of derailing the Council of Crete and adhering to a "strange, unchurchly ideology," which he described as heretical.

The OCU was established on December 15, 2018, at the so-called Unification Council held at St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, bringing together two organizations – the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) and the Kyiv Patriarchate. On January 6, 2019, Patriarch Bartholomew presented Epifaniy Dumenko with the Tomos of Autocephaly.

In the years since, the OCU has been recognized by only four Local Orthodox Churches – those of Constantinople, Alexandria, Greece, and Cyprus. Most Local Orthodox Churches, including the Bulgarian Church, still do not recognize the OCU.

Previously, the UOJ-USA published a controversial Phanar document detailing the events surrounding the creation of the OCU.

Read also