Patriarch Bartholomew: The autocephaly of the OCU was intended to unite believers and achieve unity

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople stated that the granting of autocephaly to the OCU was an exclusively ecclesiastical act, the purpose of which was to restore the unity of Orthodox believers in the country. The head of the Phanar emphasized that this decision is in line with the long-standing practice of the Patriarchate of Constantinople of granting autocephaly to young Local Churches that were previously under its jurisdiction.

In an interview with the Patriarch for Books’ Journal, he explained that the decision to establish the OCU was dictated by the need to overcome ecclesiastical division. “Granting autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine was a purely ecclesiastical act, a decision made out of the necessity to restore the unity of Orthodox believers in this long-suffering country,” the Patriarch noted.

It should be recalled that despite the official recognition of the OCU by the hierarchies of the Churches of Greece and Cyprus, at the grassroots level—among the clergy and influential monastic communities—this step did not receive universal approval. The synods’ formal decision did not reflect a consensus, as it faced deep opposition to the OCU’s canonical status from a significant portion of the episcopate and the faithful.