It should be noted that we recently published an analytical article on possible scenarios for the development of the future of the OCU in the event of the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war. In it, we described how the relations between the OCU and Phanar have become more complicated, which could lead to serious changes within the Ukrainian schism.
OCU delegation visits Phanar
On March 7-9, 2025, a delegation of the OCU led by Epiphany Dumenko visited the Patriarchate of Constantinople. During the visit, the representatives of the OCU held a number of meetings and joint events with the head and hierarchs of the Church of Constantinople. It is worth noting that on these dates, representatives of other Local Churches were absent from Phanar. This is reported by the official website of the OCU.
It is reported that on March 7, the OCU delegation was met at the Istanbul airport and escorted to Phanar by representatives of the Ukrainian Consulate General and the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The next day, Epiphany Dumenko and Yevstratiy Zorya, representing the OCU delegation, took part in religious events in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Theodore Tyrone, which took place in the church of the same name in Istanbul. After the service, the Ukrainian side was invited to a joint lunch with the Patriarch of Constantinople.
On March 8-9, in the Patriarchal Church of St. George the Victorious in Phanar, joint services were held by the hierarchs of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and representatives of the OCU. After the Sunday service in honor of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, the OCU delegation was granted an official audience with the head of Phanar, which was attended by Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon on behalf of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
“Today, love has called us here, to this sacred center of Orthodoxy, to this city where the celebration of the Triumph of Orthodoxy was first celebrated twelve centuries ago, where the lamp of truth does not dim and prayer does not go out to testify to it. To testify to love, to testify to our single-mindedness, to testify to our unity in Christ. To testify to the gratitude and unwavering support that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, as a loving daughter, has for her Mother, the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople. You are our Mother because you gave birth to us in Christ more than a thousand years ago. The Apostle Andrew the First-Called brought the first preaching of the Gospel to our land and blessed it. St. Patriarch Photius blessed the first baptism of our ancestors under Prince Askold of Kyiv. And later, the ambassadors of our Prince Volodymyr, seeing the beauty of the service to God in St. Sophia Cathedral, testified: “Truly we do not know whether we were on earth or in heaven,“ and by their testimony contributed to the final decision to baptize our land, which was carried out in Kyiv more than a thousand years ago,” – Dumenko said in his welcoming speech to Patriarch Bartholomew.
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