Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk gives interview to Romfea
Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, gave an interview to Romfea Greek news agency.
– Your Eminence, the Bishops’ Council of the Orthodox Church of Greece begins its work today. As expected, discussed at the Council among other topics will be the ecclesial situation in Ukraine and the crisis it caused in the relationships between the Russian Church and the Patriarchate of Constantinople. What do you deem important to say in view of the forthcoming discussion of the Ukrainian issue by the hierarchs of the Church of Greece?
– The Ukrainian autocephaly was the main topic of the letter sent yesterday by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to His Beatitude Archbishop Hieronymos of Athens and All Greece. Set forth in it is the position of the Russian Church on this issue, and I suppose that the letter will be discussed at the Council of the Church of Greece.
I consider it important to note that all the actions that the Patriarchate of Constantinople is now taking with the view of establishing an autocephalous church in Ukraine have nothing to do with the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church which exists in this country and is recognized by the whole Orthodox world. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church did not appeal to the Patriarch of Constantinople with a request for autocephaly. Moreover, its episcopate issued a statement, emphasizing that the Ukrainian Church regards as optimal its current status of a self-governing Church, yet within the Moscow Patriarchate. However, the opinion of Ukraine’s canonical hierarchs was ignored, and the Patriarchate of Constantinople appointed its exarchs in Kiev to implement the project of the Ukrainian autocephaly.
Since, as I have already said, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church did not ask for the autocephaly, the exarchs’ immediate task is to pave the way for creating a new, parallel structure in Ukraine, which would include schismatics and would be granted a tomos of autocephaly. It is this structure that is supposed to adopt the name of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. There is an intention to take away this name beforehand from the existing canonical Church led by Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine by means of adopting special discriminatory bills prepared for this purpose by the Verkhovna Rada.
Representatives of the Ukrainian governmental authorities openly state that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will be forcibly renamed Metropolia of the Russian Church in Ukraine. Therefore, the schismatic leaders claim that it will lose its legal rights over the churches and monasteries belonging to it now, including the major shrine of the Ukrainian Church – Kievan Lavra of the Caves.
All this means that the majority of the Orthodox Christians will become outcasts in their own country and that church buldings and monasteries will be taken away from them on a massive scale – and not by violent means as it has been done so far, but on allegedly lawful grounds.
– Were not the similar actions taken at a time when the autocephalies of the Church of Greece, the Romanian Church and other Churches that received autocephaly from Constantinople in the 19th century were proclaimed?
– In the case of Greece, Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria it did not involve the establishment of a consisting of schismatics, parallel autocephalous structure in circumvention of the existing canonical Church. However, this is what they are planning to do in Ukraine. Therefore, the granting of the tomos to the Ukrainian schismatics – should it be granted after all – will in fact mean not the autocephaly, but the legalization of the schism. We know that there are different approaches as to who in the Orthodox Church is authorized to grant autocephaly. However, it is obvious to everyone that the sacred canons do not confer on anyone the right to legalize a schism.
The actions taken by the Church of Constantinople, as well as the statements of its high representatives implying that the process of autocephaly in Ukraine will be carried through, forced the Russian Orthodox Church to take retaliatory measures. In the face of a blatant encroachment on the integrity of the Russian Church’s canonical territory, on the 14th of September its Synod resolved to suspend the liturgical commemoration of His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew and the con-celebration with hierarchs of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The Synod also adopted a statement which presents the historical facts indicating that the ecclesiastical belonging of the Kievan Metropolia to the Moscow Patriarchate is indisputable, no matter what attempts are being made to review the church history now, 300 years after their reunification.
The statement calls upon the Local Orthodox Churches to initiate a brotherly pan-Orthodox discussion of the ecclesial situation in Ukraine. Why is it necessary now? Firstly, the granting of the autocephalous status is the concern of the entire Orthodoxy, not of one Church only. Secondly, the granting of the tomos to the schismatics will have catastrophic consequences for the Orthodox unity. According to the Orthodox ecclesiology, one cannot be in the Eucharistic communion both with the canonical Church and with those who fell away from it. Such a step will lead to the complete break in communion between the Patriarchates of Moscow and Constantinople, and this rift will be hard to overcome.
I am acquainted with many hierarchs of the Orthodox Church of Greece and believe that most of them take to heart what is going on in regard to the so-called ‘Ukrainian autocephaly.’ Many of these hierarchs have been to Ukraine and to Russia; many of them have received pilgrims from the Moscow Patriarchate – from both Russia and Ukraine. We have reached a dangerous point, but I still have a hope that Their Eminences and Graces the archpastors of the Church of Greece will devote special attention to the current critical situation and will do all in their power to initiate the pan-Orthodox discussion of the Ukrainian church issue, for the further unilateral actions in relation to the Ukrainian autocephaly can lead to the most tragic consequences for the unity of the entire Holy Orthodoxy.
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14.11.2018 17:20Metropolitan Hilarion: Patriarch Bartholomew’s actions do not heal the schism but rather deepen it
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13.11.2018 19:18Resolution of the Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of 13 November 2018
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17.10.2018 14:01Metropolitan Hilarion: The fact that the Patriarchate of Constantinople has recognized a schismatic structure means for us that it itself is now in schism
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16.10.2018 09:37Patriarch Irinej of Serbia: Patriarchate of Constantinople has taken a decision to which it has no right
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16.10.2018 09:19Metropolitan Hilarion: the Patriarchate of Constantinople has lost the right to be called the coordinating center for the Orthodox Church
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16.10.2018 08:59Metropolitan Hilarion: Decisions taken by Constantinople run contrary to canonical Tradition of the Orthodox Church
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16.10.2018 08:51Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk: Decision demanded by church canons was taken today
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15.10.2018 20:12The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church has considered it impossible to remain in the Eucharistic communion with the Patriarchate of Constantinople
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15.10.2018 20:07Statement by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church concerning the encroachment of the Patriarchate of Constantinople on the canonical territory of the Russian Church
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15.10.2018 14:52Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East calls for convocation of a Pan-Orthodox Council
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12.10.2018 16:43Three hierarchs of Bulgarian Orthodox Church make statement on situation in Ukraine
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08.10.2018 08:43Statement of the Holy Synod of Antioch Concerning the Current Developments in the Orthodox World
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05.10.2018 15:55Primate of the Polish Orthodox Church calls upon His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew to convene inter-Orthodox synaxis to discuss the Ukrainian issue
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02.10.2018 20:15Statement of the Holy Synod of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate on the interference of His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople into the internal affairs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
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02.10.2018 16:39Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk gives interview to Romfea
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01.10.2018 20:43His Beatitude Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria and All Africa: Church does not bow down to politicians
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01.10.2018 19:24Patriarch of Alexandria will inform all the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches about the real ecclesial situation in Ukraine
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30.09.2018 23:22Metropolitan Hilarion: Isolation need not to be feared
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28.09.2018 19:32Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church holds its regular session
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22.09.2018 19:14Primates of the Church of Alexandria and Polish Orthodox Church issue appeal concerning the situation of Orthodoxy in Ukraine
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21.09.2018 10:35Bishop Irinej of Backa ‘On Inaccuracies of Ecclesial and Journalistic Statements on Ukraine’
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18.09.2018 23:15Metropolitan Anthony of Borispol and Brovary: Sin must not be legitimized for the sake of some geopolitical or national issues
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18.09.2018 14:30Statement by Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira and Antikythera (Greek Orthodox Church) on uncanonical actions of Patriarch of Constantinople in Ukraine
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14.09.2018 22:25Metropolitan Hilarion: The decision to suspend the liturgical mention of the Patriarch of Constantinople does not imply breaking off the Eucharistic communion
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14.09.2018 22:00Holy Synod calls upon Primates of Local Orthodox Churches to initiate pan-Orthodox discussion on the church situation in Ukraine
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14.09.2018 19:57Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev: Our Church has all attributes of independence
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14.09.2018 14:51His Holiness Patriarch Kirill chairs extraordinary session of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church
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14.09.2018 10:35Polish Orthodox Church states that there must be no haste with regard to the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in order not to deepen the schism
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12.09.2018 15:42Statement of the Synod of the Belarusian Orthodox Church (Belarusian Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate) issued on 11 September 2018
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10.09.2018 14:52Statement by the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad on the appointment of exarchs of the Constantinople Patriarchate to Kiev
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08.09.2018 21:40Metropolitan Hilarion: Patriarch Bartholomew will bear personal responsibility before the judgement of God and the judgement of history
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08.09.2018 21:33Metropolitan Hilarion: Current situation creates a threat of schism for Universal Orthodoxy
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08.09.2018 14:15Russian Orthodox Church Holy Synod Statement as of September 8, 2018
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31.08.2018 20:10Fraternal meeting of Primates of Church of Constantinople and Russian Orthodox Church
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31.08.2018 12:33Primates of Church of Constantinople and Russian Orthodox Church have begun their meeting