"Kyiv Patriarchate" celebrates the fifth anniversary of the break with the OCU

On June 20, 2024, the UOC-KP, led by Filaret Denisenko, celebrates the fifth anniversary of its break with the OCU. The organization claims that five years ago they managed to keep the «Kyiv Patriarchate» from being dependent on Constantinople. This is reported by the website of the UOC-KP.

«The Local Council then (June 20, 2019 — Ed.) preserved the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate as a separate Church, independent of neither Moscow nor Constantinople, told the truth about the 2019 Tomos of the Patriarch of Constantinople, which brought subordination to the Greek throne. The delegates of the Council once again clearly declared their loyalty to the Kyivan church tradition and their unbending will to have their own Patriarch. This is the grace of God that our people have suffered for centuries, and we must cherish it. The idea of the Kyivan Patriarchate is not a fiction, but our historical right. The Kyivan Patriarchal Throne is a spiritual jewel in the family of Universal Orthodoxy and the Christian world. The time will come when it will be properly honored,» — the UOC-KP states.

In addition, Filaret’s representatives spoke about the difficulties they have experienced over the past five years. The UOC-KP noted that the fight against their organization was launched by those who previously belonged to the Kyiv Patriarchate.

«Over these five years, the Kyiv Patriarchate has gone through many trials — illegal deregistration, raider seizures of property, information blockade, harassment and slander, its supporters were intimidated, fired from work, from school… The enemies of the independent Ukrainian Church have launched a whole campaign to discredit His Holiness Patriarch Filaret. The saddest thing is that this dirty work was organized and implemented by the representatives of the OCU, former members of the UOC-Kyiv Patriarchate. From the very beginning, they decided to fight not with the Moscow Patriarchate, but with the Kyiv Patriarchate,» — the statement reads.

Earlier, we reported that the head of the UOC-KP Filaret Denisenko proposed to convene a new unification council and proclaim autocephaly independent of anyone.