Ecumenical patriarch calls on Russian Church to lead reunification of Ukrainian Churches (09/28/97)

Ecumenical patriarch calls on Russian Church to lead reunification of Ukrainian Churches

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople on September 24 called on the Russian Orthodox Church to lead the way toward reunification of the Ukrainian Orthodox Churches. His statement has caused another stir in the already badly divided Orthodox community of Ukraine.

The leader of the worldwide Orthodox Church, Patriarch Bartholomew, while speaking after he had arrived in Odesa for an international ecological symposium, the culmination of a cruise on the Black Sea to highlight the ecological problems of the region. He said the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople recognizes as canonical on the territory of Ukraine only the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate, which is subservient to the Russian Orthodox Church. He called on the leader of the Russian Church, Aleksei II, to "do his utmost for a successful resolution of the issues of Orthodox Church unity in Ukraine," according to Interfax-Ukraine.

Patriarch Bartholomew's visit to Odesa, his first to Ukraine, was part of a cruise along the Black Sea he undertook to highlight the ecological problems of the region. Other scheduled stops were Yalta and ports in Bulgaria and Romania. In Odesa he attended the international symposium "Science, Religion and the Environment," held under the aegis of the Ecumenical Orthodox Church and the European Commission. Commission President Jacques Santer and approximately 200 religious and political leaders also were present.

In Odesa the church leader was met by Patriarch Volodymyr Sabodan, Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate, Moscow Patriarch Aleksei II and Mayor of Odesa Eduard Hurvitz. Not invited were the leaders of the two other Orthodox Churches in Ukraine, Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate and Patriarch Dymytryi of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

The two uninvited leaders quickly responded to Patriarch Bartholomew's remarks and also to a statement by Patriarch Aleksei II that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church should unite under Patriarch Volodymyr Sabodan of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Patriarch Dymytryi said his Church has no intention of "uniting with the Russian Church," while Patriarch Filaret called the Russian patriarch's words an effort to "resubjugate" Ukraine.

"The visit of the Moscow Patriarch Aleksei II in Ukraine is not wanted and harmful to our country and Church," said the leader of the Kyiv Patriarchate. "It is amoral in its substance and form. The 'visit' is a continuation of the Luzhkov-Baburin journeys, the politics of chauvinistic lies, provocation and territorial pretensions."

Patriarch Filaret said at a press conference on September 25 in Kyiv that he believes Patriarch Bartholomew met with his Moscow counterpart to resolve political differences surrounding the recent move by the Estonian Orthodox Church toward Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and away from Moscow Patriarch Aleksei II, not to talk about ecology, or science or general religious matters.

"In the end both came out of the meeting satisfied: Aleksei, because there was no discussion about establishing an independent Ukrainian Church and Bartholomew because relations with Moscow were again normalized after the Estonian affair," said Patriarch Filaret.

What also irked Patriarch Filaret was that only Patriarch Volodymyr of the Moscow Patriarchate was invited to the Odesa conference. "We were not invited, but should have been," he said. "The conference was on ecology and religion. It took place on the Black Sea, much of which borders Ukrainian territory. In Ukraine there is the national 'pomisna' Church as well as the Moscow Patriarchate. The Armenian Orthodox Church was invited, but not the Kyiv Patriarchate."

Continuing to throw verbal darts at the Moscow Church, Patriarch Filaret explained, "There is nothing Ukrainian about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate. The liturgy, the sermons, the education of seminarians has no Ukrainian characteristic. It serves only the interest of a foreign country."

Patriarch Filaret also expressed disappointment that Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not press for the participation of his Church.

Kyiv Patriarchate representatives in Odesa were not even allowed a private audience with Patriarch Bartholomew, according to Interfax-Ukraine. Father Superior Herman of the Church of the Birth of Christ in Odesa, which belongs to the Kyiv Patriarchate, said the representatives simply wanted to ask the ecumenical patriarch for his blessing and to give him documents from the recent World Forum of Ukrainians held in Kyiv.

Another Kyiv Patriarchate representative in Odesa, Father Superior Ilarion, said the Moscow Patriarchate played a role in barring the visit. "The Moscow Patriarchate orders us about on Ukrainian soil as it pleases, and regional authorities have proved unable to do anything about it," said the priest.

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