I do not see any canonical obstacles for the UOC to receive the full status of autocephaly - hierarch of the UOC

Rector of the Kyiv Theological Seminary and Academy Archbishop Silvester (Stoychev) spoke about the historical precedents of the Local Orthodox Churches receiving the status of autocephaly. According to the hierarch, most Local Churches received autocephaly with conflicts, after which this status was not recognized for a long time. At the same time, the hierarch is convinced that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has every reason to receive the status of autocephaly, but this should not happen unilaterally and with violations. The words of the hierarch are reported by the media.

«There have been various cases in Church history that show the contradictory nature of this issue. For example, Patriarch Alexy I granted autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in America, but the Greek churches still do not recognize it. Then a correspondence took place between Patriarch Athenagoras and Patriarch Alexy I. Athenagoras defended the position that only Constantinople had the right to grant autocephaly, while Alexius believed that each local church could grant autocephaly to a part of its structure, and the other churches would simply put the other churches on notice. As for the criteria for when a church can claim autocephaly, there is some consensus among theologians. First, there must be a sufficient number of bishops and potential candidates for bishop. Second, a developed system of educational institutions. Third, an active church life — monasteries, fraternities, etc. If we take the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, it has all these criteria and even exceeds them. At the same time, church history shows that no local church has ever received autocephaly without conflicts. There have always been periods of non-recognition, accusations of schism, even anathemas,» the hierarch noted.

In addition, according to the archbishop, the issue of autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is not invented «today», but is enshrined back in the decisions of the Kharkiv Council of 1992.

«And one more important remark: it is often believed that the topic of autocephaly appeared «out of nowhere» in the new times. But this is not the case. It is enough to read the documents of the Kharkiv Council, where it is said in black and white that the bishops want an autocephalous status for their church, but one that will not lead to separation and will be recognized by other churches. That is, from the very beginning, the Ukrainian Church has stated that autocephaly is a desirable and natural way of development for it. […] I understand the anxiety and fears that the situation may repeat the experience of the Kyiv Patriarchate of the early 90s. But we must take into account: the Orthodox world today is quite different than it was 30 years ago. […] My personal opinion is that today the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is actually autocephalous. And I do not see any canonical obstacles for it to receive the full status of autocephaly. But simply proclaiming it unilaterally is a wrong way. It will not solve, but only aggravate the situation», — added Archbishop Silvester.

We would like to remind you that we recently published an analytical publication on why the Ukrainian Orthodox Church cannot resume relations with the Patriarchate of Constantinople.