Archbishop Sylvester (Stoichev): There is no reason to say that the UOC is in schism

On February 1, 2023, the Dialogue.TUT portal published an interview with the rector of the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary, Archbishop Sylvester of Belogorodsk, in which he, in particular, answered the question of whether the UOC was actually in a state of schism after the decisions of the Council in Feofaniya.

“The concept of “church schism” presupposes a break in Eucharistic communion. But after May 27, 2022, when the UOC held its Council and made changes to its Charter, no one announced that they were terminating Eucharistic communion with us. Moreover, those Local Churches that communicated with us before that maintained fraternal relations with the UOC even after the Council,” the bishop noted.

Archbishop Sylvester added that “after May 27, the bishops and priests of our Church repeatedly visited other Local Churches and celebrated the Divine Liturgy there with local bishops and clergy. It is enough to look at the official website of the UOC to see information about the concelebration of the clergy of the UOC with the clergy of, say, the Serbian, Romanian or Polish Orthodox Churches. So there is no split!

The rector of the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary emphasized another important nuance. “Usually, a break in relations, that is, a split, is preceded by a church court and the adoption of certain judicial decisions. However, no one convened an ecclesiastical trial of the UOC and no judgments were made regarding those adopted at the council of the UOC on May 27,” he noted.

“Unfortunately, today parishioners very often perceive the statements of bloggers or active priests as the official voice of the Church. But we must remember that even the most authoritative preachers present only their own point of view. And the decisions of the councils are the voice of the Church,” the bishop recalled.

“No councils condemned the UOC. Therefore, there is no reason to say that we are “in schism” or have turned into a “non-canonical church,” the archbishop concluded.