Epiphaniy Calls on UOC Primate for Unconditional Dialogue on Church Unity in Ukraine

OCP News Service – 16/08/2024

Kyiv – Ukraine: On the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, Epiphaniy issued a renewed and urgent appeal to Metropolitan Onufriy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), urging him and his followers to engage in an unconditional dialogue on the unification of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

The appeal calls for immediate action “for the good and strengthening of the Orthodox Christian faith in Ukraine, for the sake of the Church of Christ, and for the sake of protecting the truth from attempts to distort it.” Metropolitan Epiphaniy emphasizes that the longstanding division within the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, primarily driven by external and worldly factors, was only addressed in 2018 by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

Epiphaniy commended Patriarch Bartholomew’s pivotal role in establishing the OCU and criticized the Moscow Patriarchate for its responsibility in preventing full unity among Orthodox Christians in Ukraine. He described the teachings of the “Russian world,” promoted by the Moscow Patriarchate, as the primary evil from which Orthodox Christians must distance themselves.

“For anyone who truly wants to preserve the purity of Orthodoxy and cares about the good of the Church, it should be clear that one should distance oneself from this evil and not have any commonality with this darkness,” Epiphaniy stated.

He further reiterated his call for dialogue without any preconditions, urging the hierarchs, clergy, and faithful of the UOC to engage in discussions aimed at unification. He dismissed previous conditions set by the UOC, such as rejecting the decisions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as untenable and contrary to the truth.

Epiphaniy also addressed recent tensions, including the violent seizures of UOC churches by OCU activists, which have been a point of contention between the two sides. Despite these challenges, he expressed his unwavering hope in God and the intercession of the Mother of God in overcoming church divisions.

This appeal comes shortly after a meeting on August 13 between Epiphaniy and Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul, where Epiphaniy assured the Ecumenical Patriarch of his ongoing efforts to unite the Orthodox faithful in Ukraine.

The call for dialogue is significant in light of previous statements by Epiphaniy in 2023, where he expressed skepticism about the need for unification with the UOC, asserting that the OCU was already a fully recognized and canonical Church. However, recent developments suggest a renewed push for unity, despite ongoing conflicts and disagreements between the two Orthodox bodies in Ukraine.

Source:

OCP News Service