Expert: Verkhovna Rada appeal to the Patriarch of Constantinople is a political project which will turn crash

Adopted on May 16 by the Verkhovna Rada a resolution "On the appeal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to His Holiness Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople and New Rome, Ecumenical Patriarch for the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine" is adventurous and has no legal basis, said Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy Alexey Svetozarsky to the agency Interfax.

According to the expert, the appeal is "a clear political interference and political project that will result in a failure. From the point of view of the doctrine of the Church canons, which underlies the relationship between the Churches, relations within each particular Church, it is a complete nonsense, absurd," said the theologian.

The scientist explained that the Patriarchate of Constantinople has no right to grant the autocephalous status, if only we are not talking about some part of the very Church of Constantinople, which gained independence on the basis of canonical rules and applies for the autocephalous status, that is of fully self-governing Church.

"How Constantinople relates to this is unclear, and it is unclear why the deputies of the Parliament, whose confessional identity we do not know, resolve questions of church structure, especially since the Rada is a state body and it is constantly proclaimed in Ukraine that there is complete freedom of religion and the state does not intervene in the affairs of the church, " said the professor.

"But we hope that the Patriarchate of Constantinople will demonstrate a reasonable position in this regard, despite the critical situation with the Pan-Orthodox Council, that it will have enough good sense, Christian tolerance and firmly follow canonical rules in order to prevent what could turn a disaster for many Orthodox Ukraine," summed up Alexei Svetozarsky.

Recall that on June 16 the Verkhovna Rada voted for the draft resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine "On the Appeal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to His Holiness Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople and New Rome, Ecumenical Patriarch for the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine."

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