Archbishop Metrophanes of Bila tserkva and Bohuslav called the “alternative council of the UOC” an “unauthorized assembly of no legal force”

Ukrainian Orthodox Church
7/7/2011

It is reported that today, on July 6, an”alternative” Council of the UOC was held. A certain organization committee of the “All-Ukrainian assembly of the Orthodox community of Ukraine” decided to hold its meeting two days before the official Council of the UOC and encouraged all the public organizations of Ukraine to participate in the event.

Administrative Director of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Metrophanes of Bila Tserkva and Bohuslav in his commentary for the official website of the UOC called it an ‘alternative’ Council, having no blessing of the hierarchy, an unauthorized assembly, and called on all the judicious Orthodox Christian believers, who truly value the unity of the Church in fact, not in word, to refrain from participating in such actions.

First you need to pay attention to the fact that the Orthodox Church has a custom sanctified both by the canons of the Church, and the church tradition, that any event organized by the faithful people, and especially the Council, as the organizers name it, is conducted with the blessing of the hierarchy, with the blessing of a bishop. None of the bishops, neither His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr, nor any other of the bishops gave the blessing to hold such a meeting. It can therefore be regarded as nothing but an unauthorized assembly.

The questions suggested for discussion at this meeting, of course, are intended to stir anxiety and concern amidst the faithful over the fact that on 8 July the Council of the UOC will be held at the Kyiv Caves Monastery. The Council must resolve some issues related to the assessment of the activity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for the past 19 years – since the Council of Bishops in Kharkiv and the election of Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv to the KyivanThrone. Also at the council some changes and additions to the Statute on governance of the UOC will be introduced and the plans for our activities in future outlined.

The task and objective, which sets the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, was made public. There are neither secrets nor mysteries. What causes the most anxiety of the so-called “zealots of Orthodoxy and of the unity of the Russian Orthodox Church” are changes and amendments to be introduced to the Statute on governance of the UOC. So, perhaps this unauthorized assembly has as its motto “for the unity of the ROC, no steps to autocephaly”.

We repeat once again: there will be no steps to autocephaly made at the Council, and the changes which will be made to the Statute on governance of the UOC, do not lead to the autocephalous status. They are the amendments and additions relating to the internal structure of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, made in order to bring the Statute in accordance to those realias, under which now lives and acts the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Without the will of the Orthodox people, bishops and clergy no steps intended at obtaining or proclaiming autocephaly can be made by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church can not. So I would like to reassure those who really think that some changes will be introduced at the Council, leading to a split in our Church. On the contrary, the Council aims to strengthen the unity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, its relation with the Russian Orthodox Church, as the UOC is self-governing part of the ROC with the right of broad autonomy.

In this regard all that is now being prepared by the organizers of so-called “alternative” council is absolutely groundless. Apparently, the participants or the organizers of this assembly pursue some other goal. It is not difficult to guess that this is a question of excommunication from the church of V.Lukiyannik. We have already given a detailed commentary on this subject, and now we have to draw attention to the faithful to the fact that the forthcoming so-called “assembly”, which supposedly stands for the unity of the Church, is unauthorized, non-canonical, and is acting without the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr. And everything done without the blessing is a violation of ecclesial order, discipline and canons which clearly state that no one – neither priest nor layman – has no right to take any action without the bishop’s blessing.
Moreover, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, His Beatitude Kirill sent His beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine Vladimir a letter in which he gave his blessing to the primatial patriarch’s blessing for holding the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which will be held at the Kyiv Lavra of Caves, on July 8.

Therefore, I call all the judicious believing Orthodox Christians who truly value the unity of the Church, in fact, not in word to refrain from participating in such actions. These actions are now organized by this very Lukiyanik under the guise of so-called organizing committee titled “All-Ukraine Assembly of the Orthodox community of Ukraine”.” All their actions have no church blessing, and, accordingly, do not and can not have any legal force.

In addition, as it was stated in the decision of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on excommunication of Lukiyannik from the church, in one paragraph decision the reference is made to the 10th rule of the Holy Apostles, which clearly states that “If anyone pray in company with one who has been excommunicated, he shall be excommunicated himself”. I want these words to be taken seriously, because they were not invented by any of the bishops, but these are the words and decrees of the canons of the Apostles. These are the rules we follow and by which we live.

As it became known, unfortunately, Valentin Lukiyannik did not draw the appropriate conclusions after the decision of the Holy Synod. He continues to act in the same vein as before, breaking the unity of the Orthodox Church with his own hands. And if he will continue to behave in the same vein, then I think the Synodal decision will be confirmed at the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. But he will not be able to challenge this decision.

The fact that Valentine Lukiyanik did not listen to the voice of the Church, of course, evokes sorrow in our hearts. And we pray that God enlighten his mind and install him on to the path of repentance and correction. May he think about his soul: he will give answer before God. For now all his actions are anti-clerical, anti-Christian by nature, and the fact he did not receive any blessing either from His Holiness the Patriarch, or from His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr, once again confirms the correctness of the acts of the Holy Synod.

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