We hope that all Autocephalous Churches will approve our canonical independence, - Primate of the UOC

The Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine, published an address on the occasion of the third anniversary of the UOC Council, which was held on May 27, 2022, in Feofaniya. The Primate emphasized that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has all the attributes of an independent structure, and therefore expects that this status of the UOC will be supported by the Local Churches. This is reported by the official website of the UOC.

“On May 27, 2022, the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was held in Kyiv, at St. Panteleimon Monastery (Feofania), which made a number of important decisions. Unfortunately, after the start of the full-scale invasion, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow sided with the Russian political leadership, consistently justifying military aggression against Ukraine. Therefore, already in the first weeks of the war, numerous priests of our Church began to express their disagreement with the words and actions of Patriarch Kirill. Both individual parishes and entire dioceses in different regions of Ukraine began to refuse to raise the name of the Moscow Patriarch during worship. In this situation, the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church decided to convene a meeting of bishops, priests, monks and laity in Kyiv to discuss the life of our Church in the conditions of war,” — the statement reads.

His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy noted that the Council in Feofaniya made a number of serious decisions that significantly changed the life of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He pointed out that steps had been taken to separate the UOC from the Moscow Patriarchate, which was supported by the majority of the Council participants.

“This Great Council began its work in the afternoon of May 27. The overwhelming majority of the Council’s delegates supported the complete separation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Moscow Patriarchate. That is why the Council made a number of fundamental changes to the Statute of Governance, which testified to the full canonical independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its unequivocal separation from the Moscow Patriarchate. All clauses on the connection of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with the Russian Orthodox Church were removed from the Statute. In particular, the resolutions of the Russian Orthodox Church are no longer the basis for the activities of our Church. The Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is elected for life by the bishops of our Church and does not need to receive a blessing for his ministry from the Moscow Patriarch. The Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine ceased to be a member of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. The name of the Moscow Patriarch is no longer mentioned during services in churches and monasteries of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The council unequivocally condemned Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and expressed disagreement with Patriarch Kirill’s position on the war. The Council also declared its intention to restore the rite of reconciliation in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In addition, the delegates of the Council called for the development of the mission of our Church abroad among Orthodox Ukrainians who found themselves outside their homeland as a result of the war, in order to preserve their faith, culture, language and Orthodox identity,” — the text says.

The Primate of the UOC expects that the Local Orthodox Churches will recognize the right of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be independent, marking this act appropriately.

“We hope that the entire family of Autocephalous Local Churches will morally support us, approve our canonical independence and recognize it with a proper reward. Sacred history testifies that Church Councils that defend and protect the purity of faith and Christian morality are guided by the grace of the Holy Spirit, who guides us into all truth (John 16:13), and we are comforted by the fact that in these difficult times, when Ukraine is going through one of the most difficult periods in its history, the Lord does not abandon us but continues to lead us to His Kingdom,” — the Primate of the UOC said in his address.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow would continue to defend the rights of Orthodox believers in Ukraine and support the canonical Orthodox Church. The Foreign Minister emphasized that Russia will not leave the Orthodox people of Ukraine in trouble and expressed confidence that their legal rights will be restored.