Filaret on Fanar’s requirement: Foreign eparchies cannot be joined by force

“Honorary Patriarch” of the OCU Filaret Denisenko

Although one of the conditions for granting the Tomos on autocephaly to Ukraine is the subordination of all foreign eparchies of the UOC KP to Constantinople, the Kiev Patriarchate cannot force its eparchies to fulfill this condition, said honorary patriarch of the OCU Filaret Denisenko in an interview with Glavkom.

“Yes, there is such a requirement. But they themselves do not want to go to Constantinople <...> they do not want to go to the Ecumenical Patriarch. And no one can be forcibly separated from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” Filaret explained the obvious disregard by the new “Autocephalous Church” for the obligatory terms prescribed in the Tomos for the OCU.

The refusal to transfer its overseas dioceses to Phanar is not the only violation of conditions by the Kiev Patriarchate, which are spelled out in the Tomos granted from Constantinople. The document on autocephaly states that "the Autocephalous Church in Ukraine recognizes the Holy Apostolic and Patriarchal Ecumenical Throne as its head". According to Epiphany Dumenko, the head of the OCU, the Patriarchate of Constantinople even before the “unification council” demanded the dissolution of the UOC KP and the UAOC. The “primate” of the new church structure assured that the Kiev Patriarchate no longer exists.

However, the "patriarch of all Rus-Ukraine" Filaret disagrees with him: he said that the Kiev Patriarchate actually exists, because there is a "patriarch". According to Filaret, the UOC KP “agrees” to receive the Tomos on autocephaly in the metropolis status but perceives it only as a first step towards the status of “patriarchate”.

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