Another lie of the false patriarch Philaret (Denisenko)
9.03.2001 · English, Архив 2001
ANOTHER LIE OF THE FALSE PATRIARCH PHILARET (DENISENKO)
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own (Jn. 8:44)
The Literaturnaya Ukraina newspaper published an interview by the former Metropolitan Philaret (Denisenko), anathemized by the Orthodox Church, who has proclaimed himself “the Patriarch of Kiev”. This publication has become another vivid testimony to the fact that lie is one of the favourite ways for this figure to achieve his unseemly aims.
In a conscious attempt to mislead the readers of this respected edition, Philaret (Denisenko) stated that “in Istanbul the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople held a meeting which officially confirmed that Ukraine is a canonical territory of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople”. This is a piece of apparent misinformation which was officially refuted by the Patriarchate of Constantinople as far back as August 8, 2000.
Mention should be made of the attitude of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to the “Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kiev Patriarchate” grouping led by Philaret (Denisenko). As far back as July 1993, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople unequivocally confirmed its illegality, making during his visit to the Russian Orthodox Church the following official statement: “The Ecumenical Patriarchate recognizes only one canonical Metropolitan of Kiev – His Eminence Vladimir (Sabodan), Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine. There is no Church named “Kiev Patriarchate” among the Local Orthodox Churches”.
There is another absurd thesis set forth by Philaret (Denisenko): “This summer in Moscow there was a Bishops’ Council of the ROC which did not consider the Ukrainian question at all”.
In reality, the Jubilee Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, which took place in August 2000 and which almost all the canonical hierarchs in Ukraine attended, gave considerable attention to the Ukrainian question. Moreover, the Council adopted a special Resolution confirming that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, headed by His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and recognized as the only lawful and canonical Church in Ukraine by the Local Orthodox Churches throughout the world, enjoys independence and self-governance, which creates favourable preconditions for all the Ukrainian Orthodoxy to unite around it.
In its approach to the resolution of the Ukrainian church crisis, the Moscow Patriarchate proceeds from that fact that the restoration of the Orthodox unity in Ukraine should be accomplished in accordance with church canons. It is quite clear that it is only the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that can represent the lawful canonical basis for unity as it possesses canonical and hierarchal succession and is recognized by the Local Orthodox Churches throughout the world.
Another gross distortion of facts is found in the following utterance of the false patriarch Philaret: “The Russian parishes in Estonia have now come to exist as a representation of the Russian Orthodox Church. And what? – nothing. Moscow has swallowed this. Estonia is a good example for us”.
The Moscow Patriarchate has never accepted and will accept that the Estonian Orthodox Church under its jurisdiction, which unites Estonian people of different ethnic origins, should exist in that country only in the form of a representation.
The attempts, made earlier to deprive Московский Патриархатthe Moscow Patriarchate of its jurisdiction over the Orthodox Church in Estonia, provoked in 1996 a deep crisis in Universal Orthodoxy and made the church question a source of continuous instability and conflicts in Estonian society. Besides, the violation of the rights of the faithful of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, who comprise no less than 90 percent of all the Orthodox in Estonia, has caused considerable concern among European human rights organizations and represents a problem to be settled before Estonia joins the European Union.
It is quite clear that only a man who seeks to do serious damage to the Orthodox Church and Ukrainian society can insist that the church situation in Ukraine should develop after “the Estonian fashion”.
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