Orthodox Church synod proceeds to granting autocephaly to Ukrainian church

A synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
of the Orthodox Christian Church announced on Oct. 11 its decision to “proceed
to the granting of autocephaly to the church of Ukraine.” In a text of its
decision published on the pravda.com.ua news site, the synod revoked a decision
in the year 1686 granting Moscow temporary authority over the church in
Ukraine, reaffirmed the Ukrainian church’s canonical dependence on
Constantinople, granted autocephaly to a Ukrainian church, and reinstated
Ukrainian Orthodox Church Patriarch Filaret, who was placed under anathema by
the Moscow Patriarchate in 1997 for organizing the Kyiv patriarchate two years
earlier. The decision also called for the sides to “avoid appropriation of
churches, monasteries and other properties, as well as every other act of violence
and retaliation …”

 

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate, which
has led the process of creating a single canonical Ukrainian Orthodox church,
expects the ecumenical patriarchate will grant official canonical recognition
with a church tomos (decree) at a synod in late November, church spokesman
Yevstratiy Zoria said after Constantinople’s announcement. Patriarch Filaret
called for a convention to be attended by the representatives of Ukraine’s
Orthodox Christian churches to unite under a single canonical church structure.
The Moscow Patriarchate can remain in Ukraine but must be renamed the Russian
Orthodox Church, he said.

 

Among Ukraine’s Orthodox Christians, about 45.2% said
they are affiliated with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate,
compared to 16.9% who said they are affiliated with the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church-Moscow Patriarchate, according to a poll conducted of 10,000 respondents
between Aug. 30 and Sept. 9 by three leading Kyiv polling firms. The Moscow
Patriarchate has enjoyed canonical status since 1989. 

 

The ecumenical patriarchate reached “a catastrophic
decision for global Orthodox Christianity,” said Aleksandr Volkov, the press
secretary of Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill. The legalization of the
activity of schismatics will force the Russian Orthodox Church to cease its
eucharistic communication with the Constantinople church, he said. A Moscow
Patriarchate spokesman in Kyiv called for placing an anathema on Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew for his decision to remove the anathema against Patriarch
Filaret, which it alleged was beyond its authority.

 

Meanwhile, the efforts of Ukrainian Orthodox church
leaders to unite under a single church were endorsed by Kurt Volker, the U.S. special
envoy to Ukraine. Besides stressing the importance of freedom of religion,
Volker called on all sides to avoid violence. This morning, Interior Minister
Arsen Avakov issued a statement warning of a firm response against provocations
and violence based on religious “strife and intolerance.” He called on the
public to avoid provocations and speculations.

 

Zenon Zawada: This event
is among the most historic during Ukraine’s 27 years of independence. The Kyiv
Patriarchate, which has led this process, has been the world’s largest Orthodox
Christian church without canonical recognition, largely because of Russia’s
historical claims to Ukrainian territory and to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv,
which it considers to be the cradle of Russian civilization. The decision sets
in motion the process of establishing one of the world’s largest Orthodox
Christian churches, with the Kyiv Patriarchate leadership expecting half of the
parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate to decide to join the new structure.

 

Needless to say, this decision will unleash an
enormous flood of social tensions in Ukraine during an already tense election
campaign that will extend for more than a year (the parliamentary vote is
scheduled for Oct. 27, 2019). Ukrainian President Poroshenko is fully aware of
this, hoping to ride the wave of Ukrainian nationalism amid Russian aggression
towards re-election. These tensions will also benefit Russian-oriented forces,
which we believe will re-establish the dominance over Ukraine’s southeastern
regions in next October’s vote.

 

We are also confident that dividing the country along
these traditional lines (pro-Western vs. pro-Russian) benefits President
Poroshenko because he is more likely to win re-election this way and gain a
parliamentary majority in 2019. The process of establishing the canonical
church will coincide with the presidential election campaign, which he aims to
use to boost his electoral support, particularly at the expense of his leading
rival, Yulia Tymoshenko. At the same time, Poroshenko is playing with fire as
the backlash in the southeast might be stronger than expected. A strong result
for Russian-oriented forces in the October 2019 vote could undermine Ukraine’s
Euro-Atlantic integration course.

 

The Russian mass media will be ready to exploit any
violent conflicts as part of the Kremlin’s campaign of aggression against
Ukraine. In the most extreme case, the Kremlin could exploit church-related
violence to expand military intervention in the interest of protecting Russian
Orthodox faithful against alleged religious persecution.