The OCU and the Vatican are developing relations: why?
Just yesterday, Catholics avoided the OCU ignoring it. But recently, the situation has changed. Meetings are being held and statements are being made. Where’s it going?
For years after the creation of the OCU, representatives of the Roman Catholic Church have delicately avoided this organization. There were no negative comments about Dumenko, but there were also no official contacts. Experts associated this position with Rome's reluctance to worsen relations with the Russian Church. But after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this position gradually changed. This became particularly noticeable by the beginning of 2023.
S. Dumenko in Rome and at the Phanar
On January 25, 2023, the head of the OCU, Serhii (Epifaniy) Dumenko, met with the Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch, in Rome.
Epifaniy Dumenko and Cardinal Kurt Koch. Photo: pomisna.info
S. Dumenko shared his vision of the religious life of Ukraine with Koch, thanked him "for the attention to the Local Church of Ukraine" and stated that his structure is ready for a dialogue with the RCC. Religious structures conduct diplomatic dialogue among themselves anyway, so there is no need to declare readiness for it. It is likely that this is about something bigger: the rapprochement with Catholicism, the tone of which was set by the Vatican and the Phanar with a whole series of joint statements and events indicating that they are seriously intending to unite.
In response, Cardinal Koch stated: "We are closely following the events. During our meetings, both Patriarch Bartholomew and Metropolitan Emmanuel, who, as I know, also did a lot for the Ukrainian Church (the OCU – Ed.), told us about them." That is, the Vatican prefers to receive information about the religious life in Ukraine only from one side, although it could meet with representatives of the UOC DECR and get a full picture of what is happening. But the Vatican does not do that and prefers to rely precisely on the OCU. Koch also noted that the Vatican is "happy with the current visit" of Dumenko and hopes that "with God's help, the disputes that exist between the Orthodox in Ukraine will come to an end".
On the same day, Pope Francis held an audience with delegates of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (AUCCRO) and members of the interfaith Ukrainian Bible Society.
After the Vatican, on January 26, 2023, the head of the OCU S. Dumenko went to the Phanar.
Patriarch Bartholomew and S. Dumenko. Photo: orthodoxtimes.com
Patriarch Bartholomew received him very kindly and expressed hope that Pope Francis had become closer to the OCU and Ukraine: "This time you have come to us from Ancient Rome, here to New Rome. We are pleased that you had the opportunity to inform Pope Francis first-hand about what is happening in Ukraine." Note how the head of the Phanar speaks of Istanbul. It has been a Turkish Muslim city for many centuries. Nevertheless, Patriarch Bartholomew uses the name "New Rome." It is not difficult to understand that this is purely an imperial narrative, which is intended to ideologically support the claims of the Phanar for primacy in Orthodoxy and the superiority of Hellenism over other traditions, as its representatives constantly repeat. By the way, the concept of "Moscow – the Third Rome" is only an interpretation of the Constantinople imperial concept in the Russian way.
Vatican's attitude towards repression of the UOC: from non-acceptance to approval
One of the pontiff's statements during the meeting with the AUCCRO is very indicative: "I am with you in defending the rights of believers of all religious communities, especially those who suffer from offences and persecution... I support your efforts aimed at restoring universal respect for the principles and norms of international law and fundamental human rights."
The most representative delegations at the meeting were the UGCC and the OCU. Can we say that they "suffer from offences and persecution"? Are their "fundamental human rights" violated? Hardly. And yet the Pope is surely well-informed about the situation that has arisen around the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The deputy head of the UOC DECR, Archpriest Mykola Danylevych, who attended the meeting, stated that representatives of the RCC "expressed concern about the possibility of applying collective punishment to the entire denomination for individual violations of the law by certain clergymen". But the actions of official persons speak of something completely different.
On February 21, 2023, S. Dumenko visited the Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine, Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas. The meeting participants also discussed the ban on the UOC in Ukraine. In particular, S. Dumenko stated: "We support the desire of the Ukrainian state to protect our fellow citizens and freedom of religion from the hybrid influence of Russian propaganda, the tool of which, unfortunately, has become the Russian Church. We are not talking about banning religion, but about banning Russian religious centres controlled by the Putin administration from having an influence on religious organisations in Ukraine."
It is clear to everyone that behind these diplomatic phrases is a campaign to ban the UOC, which is unfolding before our eyes and is taking place at all levels: legislative, law enforcement, local government, media, and so on. We only know from Dumenko's words that Nuncio and the head of the OCU discussed the UOC ban. But since Kulbokas did not deny it, it means that it was true.
S. Dumenko and V. Kulbokas. Photo: pomisna.info
And just a year ago, Catholics had a completely different position. On April 11, 2022, the Vatican Embassy in Ukraine issued a statement expressing "opposition to any restrictive actions against Churches and religious organizations". It appeared in response to the first bills against the UOC. Since then, the avalanche of repression against the UOC has been growing in geometric progression. But the position of the Catholics has transformed from rejecting these repressions to their actual support.
On February 26, 2022, the day after meeting with V. Kulbokas, a delegation of the Belgian Episcopal Conference of Catholics visited S. Dumenko's residence.
Representatives of the Vatican visiting S. Dumenko. Photo: pomisna.info
The delegation was quite representative: auxiliary Bishop of Brussels, Jean Kockerols, Bishop of Ghent, Lode Van Hecke, Bishop of Bruges, Lodewijk Aerts, and Bishop of Antwerp, Johann Bonny. Representatives of foreign structures of the UGCC also participated: Apostolic Administrator of the Paris Eparchy of the UGCC, Bishop Hlib Lonchyna, and Episcopal Vicar of the UGCC in Belgium, Ivan Dantchevsky. The meeting also discussed the "Russian world" and the ways to counter it.
Once again, we emphasize that the "Russian world" does indeed bring destruction and ruin, which the entire Ukrainian people, including the multi-million-strong flock of the UOC, are experiencing. But the enemies of the UOC unfairly label it as the "Russian world" in order to ideologically justify their struggle against the Church. Today, when the Russian Federation is sowing death and destruction in Ukraine, it is very convenient to deal with the unwanted and deprive them of their constitutional rights simply by calling them the "Russian world". And many citizens of Ukraine will agree with such repression without bothering to ask themselves: are these accusations against the UOC justified?
Conclusions:
Firstly, all these events show that the Vatican has recently started to view the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) as a party with whom it can and should officially communicate.
Secondly, these contacts and statements fit into the context of the upcoming unification of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) and the OCU, and then the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Vatican.
Before his visit to Rome, the head of the UGCC, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, made an eloquent statement. "God willing, one day we all will be united. That is, all the divisions that exist today between the Orthodox world, and the Catholic world, I think, step by step will be overcome," said the leader of the Eastern Catholic Church and added that the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv is the mother church of the UGCC and symbolizes national unity. Epifaniy Dumenko also spoke in the same vein, saying that he was going to the Vatican to "strengthen the cooperation".
Meetings and negotiations with the head of the OCU, Epifaniy Dumenko, including with Pope Francis and his close cardinals, demonstrate that the Vatican has positioned the OCU not only as one of the Ukrainian denominations but also as a "Local Church" in Ukraine. This is hardly accidental. The OCU is needed by the Vatican as a partner in negotiations on unification in such a status.
It can be noted that, apart from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, no other Local Orthodox Church has yet announced its intention to participate in such a unification process. It seems that the Local Churches are watching the process of rapprochement between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Vatican and simply do not know how to react. They do not know because today it is still impossible to say for sure how far this unification will go and in what form it will take place. The reaction will depend on this. But already now, the Vatican needs to show that the unification process is supported not only by the Ecumenical Patriarchate alone but that there are also other "Local Churches" participating in it.
From the internal Ukrainian perspective, the possible unification of the OCU and the UGCC will be presented in the information space as the "reunification of the Churches of Vladimir’s Baptism". Here, the OCU is also presented as a local Orthodox Church that is "reuniting" with a similar local Catholic Church, or as the Eastern Catholics like to say about themselves, a local Orthodox Church in communion with the Roman Throne. Participants in the unification process prefer not to discuss the fact that Catholic doctrine, Catholic morality, prayer practices, and ideals of holiness fundamentally differ from those of the Orthodox faith. Today, such "details" interest few.
Thus, the UGCC and the OCU are moving towards their unification, which is more substantial than administrative, and will position themselves as the only national Church of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which refuses to participate in this process, will be declared a marginal group that will be in the status of a "Cinderella" that is barely tolerated out of mercy. On the one hand, we will be deprived of external splendour and recognition by the world, but on the other hand, this opens up wonderful opportunities to concentrate all our spiritual forces on following the Gospel and Christ's commandments.
