Phanar was ready to grant Tomos of autocephaly to UOC with signatures of Patriarchs Bartholomew and Kirill, - Serhiy Shumylo

Director of the International Institute of Athos Heritage Serhiy Shumylo said that in 2018, Phanar considered the option of granting the Tomos of autocephaly to the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Moreover, Shumylo noted that Constantinople was ready for this document to be agreed with the Moscow Patriarchate. However, according to the expert, the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches refused such a proposal. He spoke about this on the YouTube channel Viche.

«Indeed, in September-October 2018, I was in Phanar and had the opportunity to talk with Patriarch Bartholomew and many hierarchs — representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and witness some of the events of that time. […] Then, at the end of September, I was personally informed by the secretary of the commission (of the Synod of Phanar — ed.) that Phanar was ready to grant the Tomos to Metropolitan Onufriy, and even with two signatures: Patriarchs Bartholomew and Kirill. That is, they were considering such a scenario at that time and were ready to discuss it. I can confirm this, even swearing on the cross and the Gospel,» Shumylo said.

However, according to Shumilo, the ROC and the UOC refused to allow such a development. In this regard, the Patriarchate of Constantinople granted the Tomos to the Ukrainian schismatics of the OCU.

«The problem is that the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as they told me at the time, was ready to look for different options for resolving the Ukrainian issue and was even ready to take such an unprecedented step as to grant the Tomos with two signatures. […] But, as the secretary of the synodal commission told me at the time, they (the UOC and the ROC — ed.) do not want to. Neither Kirill nor Bishop Onufriy wants it,» he added.

Earlier, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople addressed the head of the OCU with an instruction to actively seek ways to bring the UOC hierarchs closer to each other through dialogue and the search for common ground to achieve unity. Seven years after the granting of the Tomos of autocephaly, the Patriarch emphasized the importance of efforts to achieve peace, condemned state interference in church affairs, and called for a rethinking of positions for the sake of general reconciliation.