UOC Chancellor urges not to rush to judgment on Church of Cyprus and OCU

Chancellor of the UOC, Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich). Photo: pravlife.org

One should wait for the official information and for the response of other hierarchs of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, and only then make a judgment of what has happened. Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary, Chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, wrote about this in response to the publications on the recognition of the OCU by the Church of Cyprus.

“The Greek media reported that Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus commemorated Epiphany Dumenko, the head of the OCU, at the service. Thus, the said religious organization is alleged to have been recognized by the Cypriot Orthodox Church,” the hierarch wrote on his Facebook page.

He explained how to respond to this information.

Firstly, the UOC Chancellor noted, it is necessary to wait for the official confirmation or refutation of the data disseminated in the media.

“Secondly, if, nevertheless, this information corresponds to reality, then it should be emphasized that what happened is not the position of the entire Orthodox Church of Cyprus, which is represented only by its Synod, but just the sole decision of one person. Even though it is the Primate, who is invested with power,” added Metropolitan Anthony.

Thirdly, he believes, it is necessary to wait for the response of other hierarchs of the Cypriot Church to what has happened, "and only on the basis of this reaction to make a relevant judgment of the event."

“Fourthly, it should be noted that the interests of politics and geopolitics continue to interfere in the affairs of the Church. Unfortunately, the victim of such a process is both the unity of World Orthodoxy and individual Orthodox Churches. After all, some decisions, being made under the dictation of the mighty of this world and factors far from faith in God, do not lead to the healing of the schism. On the contrary, they only bring about new splinters. But this will have extremely grave consequences. Because, as St. John Chrysostom said, ‘causing divisions in the Church is no less evil than falling into heresies ...’” summed up the Metropolitan of Boryspil and Brovary.

As the UOJ reported, on October 24, 2020, the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, Archbishop Chrysostomos II, for the first time commemorated the name of the head of the OCU, Epiphany Dumenko, during the Divine Liturgy.

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