Metropolitan Theodosius assessed the prospects of convening the All-Orthodox Council to resolve the Ukrainian issue

The hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kanev, has expressed skepticism about the possibility of holding a full-fledged Pan-Orthodox council in the near future. According to the hierarch, the currently proposed format of such meetings is a “manipulative substitution” of traditional church canons in the interests of certain parties.

As Pravblog reports with reference to the Metropolitan’s interview with the Serbian portal “Life of the Church”, the reason for the discussion was the initiative of the Holy Synod of the Polish Orthodox Church on the need to resolve the Ukrainian church conflict at the pan-Orthodox level. Metropolitan Theodosius emphasized that although theoretically the Council could restore unity in the spirit of truth, in practice its holding remains in doubt due to fundamental disagreements in the regulations.

The hierarch’s main criticism is directed at the format of participation, which, he said, “is being imposed on world Orthodoxy by the Phanar.” Instead of the cathedral participation of all Orthodox bishops, as has been customary since apostolic times, a system of equal delegations from each Local Church is proposed. “Delegations with equal decisive powers vote. One delegation is one vote. That 500 bishops – one vote, that 5 bishops – one vote,” the Metropolitan explained, emphasizing that such an approach deprives the concept of the Church’s Soborate reason of meaning.

Vladyka Theodosius also refuted arguments about the technical impossibility of organizing a large-scale congress of all bishops. According to him, several Local Orthodox Churches have already expressed their willingness to provide a worthy venue for a real Pan-Orthodox Council. However, the unwillingness of certain forces to dialog outside of behind-the-scenes agreements makes the prospect of convening such a forum in the near future unlikely.

Earlier, the hierarch of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Archbishop Theodosius of Sebastia, announced the readiness of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem to provide a platform for holding an all-church council dedicated to resolving the crisis around the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the problems in world Orthodoxy. The hierarch stressed that the leaders of the churches should meet to overcome the schism and restore unity, while recognizing exclusively the canonical UOC headed by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry.