Patriarch Bartholomew assures OCU of immutability of Tomos of autocephaly

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople confirmed that the decision to grant the Tomos of autocephaly to the OCU “will remain firm and unchanged.” This statement was made during the reception of the OCU delegation at Phanar.

According to the press service of the OCU, on January 5, 2025, during the reception of the head of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko and his colleagues at Phanar, Patriarch Bartholomew promised them not to take away the Tomos. “We assure you that our decision to grant the Tomos of autocephaly was, is and will remain firm and unchanged. This is the canonical order and this is the response of the Mother Church to the numerous requests of your clergy, people and state,” the press service of the OCU quoted Patriarch Bartholomew as saying.

As reported, the former press secretary of the head of the UOC-KP Filaret Denisenko, and now a well-known lobbyist of the OCU in the media and a cleric of this organization , Andriy Kovalev, said that the OCU risks losing the Tomos of autocephaly granted by Patriarch Bartholomew. Kovalev attributes this to the fact that the OCU does not fulfill all the conditions of this document, the ultimate goal of which, in his opinion, is to unite all Orthodox Ukrainians into one religious structure.