Full remarks by Andrii Krawchuk on "Initiative for Orthodox Autocephaly in Ukraine", Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, 7 May 2018.
- 1:05 Misleading headlines are more sensational than accurate, e.g
Ukraine's Orthodox Church could become independent from Russia,
Parliament of Ukraine approves initiative to split the Orthodox Church
from Russia. Clarification: The autocephaly we are speaking about is not
the same autocephaly discussed since Ukraine's independence, i.e. the
autocephaly of the UOC-MP- 1:50 Patriarch Filaret and the creation of a separate jurisdiction Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kyiv Patriarchate
- 2:10 Debate on Autocephaly and whether it should be pursued
- 2:44 Since the 1990s the Russian Orthodox Church has considered the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kyiv Patriarchate uncanonical and schismatic. This has resulted in a socio-political anomaly in Ukraine
- 3:47 When Russia invaded Ukraine, loyalty to an aggressor state is generally perceived as treason
- 4:16 Petro Poroshenko is taking the lead in this new initiative. Poroshenko is not working with the autocephalous issue of the UOC-MP, but with UOC-KP which has an initiative to unite with the remains of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church and to request Patriarch Bartholemew recognize the [new] church as autocephalous and recognized as fully canonical
- 5:08 Strenuously resisted by the Russian Orthodox Church
- 5:40 Three possible scenarios:
(a) This initiative leads no where, nothing comes of it. Bartholemew may have some hesitations
(b) Moscow could see a race with Bartholemew and may grant autocephaly before Constantinople to neutralize the situation
(c) Initiative will succeed and leave the UOC-MP on shakier ground morally. Increasing parishes of the UOC-MP have transferred to the UOC-KP. More bishops and eparchies could bolt as well
- 9:46 Poroshenko stated that the successful completion of this initiative will not create a privileged state church. It would not be the official church of the Ukrainian state
- 10:50 A test on Poroshenko's resolve to maintain equality of religious beliefs, maintain European standards of equality
- 11:40 Greek Catholics was lost to the Orthodox Church. Any further disintegration would need to be very carefully managed to avoid provocations by hyper-patriots. We don't need to provoke Putin
- 12:39 Big picture. Insightful remarks by Fr. Cyril Hovorun
- 13:30 The Neo-Soviet neo-empire exploits its own autocephaly to expand its own power and to limit the power of Ukraine
- 14:12 Like other countries, Ukraine pursues autocephaly as a means to leave the neo-empire
- 14:47 Overall, in the long term, this is a move in the right direction, where peace becomes possible.
- 15:33 It is important that the churches and religious communities should not be instrumentalized to perpetuate conflict or undermine normalization of relations with neighours. Stand above artificially created conflicts
- 16:13 Online comments regarding Poroshenko's political calculations
- 17:17 Orthodox bishops in the diaspora came out in support
- 17:57 Important to remember the rights of non-Orthodox citizens of Ukraine, other Christians, Protestants, Catholics, people of other faiths, or of no faith. Ukraine should continue to respect diversity of perspectives.
- 18:35 A tendency to simplify history, news from Poland, or to reduce history to Kyivan Christianity for Ukrainians only, or for Orthodox only. The fact is in 988 AD everybody was equally Catholic and Orthodox. There was no split between East and West
For more on Orthodox Autocephaly in Ukraine, see:
Articles by Paul Brusanowski and Alfons Brüning
in Churches in the Ukrainian Crisis,
Krawchuk and Bremer, eds.
(New York: Palgrave, 2016).
Cyril Hovorun, "Autocephaly and its Ukrainian Case,"
Linkedin (April 21, 2018).
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