Bartholomew speaks in PACE about “maturity of OCU” and “healing of division” in Ukraine

Patriarch Bartholomew, during the opening of the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, said that his creation of the OCU in Ukraine “healed the centuries-old division”. The head of Phanar is convinced that the maturity of the OCU has become the basis for the unification of Ukrainian society. The words of the Patriarch of Constantinople are reported by Ukrinform.

“Our support for the Churches in crisis goes beyond mere moral or spiritual. The development and maturity of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine demonstrate how solidarity and unity work in practice, not just in theory. The granting and recognition of its autocephaly, that is, church self-government, by the Ecumenical Patriarchate six years ago demonstrates how canonical order and pastoral care can heal divisions and age-old wounds,” – Bartholomew said.

Earlier, the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol, said that the purpose of the legislative ban on the UOC is the complete destruction of the Church. In addition, the metropolitan claims that eventually the remnants of the UOC and the OCU will be integrated into the UGCC, and Ukraine will thus become a testing ground for developing a mechanism for uniting the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Vatican.