Dumenko: Jerusalem Church is wrong to refuse communion with us

Epifaniy Dumenko. Photo: Dumenko’s Facebook page

OCU head Epifaniy Dumenko sought to justify the refusal of Local Orthodox Churches to recognize his organization, calling the Jerusalem Patriarchate’s and several other Local Churches’ refusal to maintain prayerful communion with the OCU a “mistake.”

The OCU leader drew what he considered an “obvious” parallel with an episode from the Epistle to the Galatians. He recalled how the Apostle Paul confronted the Apostle Peter over his refusal to associate openly with Gentile Christians. According to Dumenko, this episode demonstrates that the current leaders of the Jerusalem Church “can make the same mistakes in their actions as the Apostle Peter and some of the misguided, overzealous disciples of the Apostle James once did.”

Dumenko argued that today the OCU, like the Apostle Paul, “likewise stands against the errors that, unfortunately, the Jerusalem Church and certain other Churches” that have not recognized his organization “are making.” He also maintained that the Jerusalem Church’s historical status as the first Church to be established, and the ancient origins of Jerusalem itself, do not make it “the source of truth.”

The OCU head also described opponents of his organization as “false brethren introducing innovations” and expressed confidence that the Jerusalem Church and the other Local Churches would eventually “correct their attitude” and restore “fraternal communion” with the OCU.

As the UOJ previously reported, Dumenko believes that Churches which have not recognized the OCU do not, in fact, deny its autocephaly.

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