Statement of the
Initiative Group of the Open Orthodox Network
Kyiv, August 20-23, 2018
Click Hear:
Having convened together at the initiative of the Open Orthodox University of St Sophia the Wisdom, we, the clergy and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, initiated a dialogue on what the Orthodox Church of Ukraine should be like and what its place in society is.
Most of us are convinced and consistent proponents of autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. We are open to dialogue and call on Orthodox Ukrainians who belong or will belong to different Orthodox jurisdictions, to renounce the language of hostility and violence towards any person in solving any and all issues, including administrative and property issues.
We offer peaceful coexistence, cooperation and co-ordination instead of war between jurisdictions.
We welcome the desire of the Patriarch of Constantinople and Ecumenical Orthodoxy to help Orthodox Ukrainians overcome church divisions. However, we must not be passive observers, but active participants in the processes of reconciliation in Ukrainian Orthodoxy. The bestowal of the Tomos of Autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is merely a starting point in the process of unification of Orthodox Ukrainians and the making of the Ukrainian Church on the basis of biblical wisdom, evangelical openness and Orthodox unity. It depends on us, the Orthodox clergy and believers, what the future of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine will be like.
In order to get rid of the imperial, totalitarian and Soviet constructs in our church and public life, we need not only the Tomos but also a large-scale conciliar process involving the best Orthodox theologians to bring us back to authentic traditions of the Church of Kyiv and to become our waymark.
We need not only the unity of Ukrainian Orthodoxy but also the unity of the people of Ukraine. Therefore, we see our Orthodoxy open to dialogue with society and the media, research circles and the academia, with other religions and denominations, with believers and non-believers.
We support the efforts of the President of Ukraine and other Orthodox believers who were elected by the people of Ukraine to high government offices or are active members of civil society, to contribute to the process of obtaining the Tomos of autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Simultaneously, we urge the state authorities to ensure strict observance of Ukrainian legislation and to protect the constitutional right to freedom of thought and religion, thus preventing violence and ensuring peaceful and lawful solution to all contentious issues. We are asking politicians, experts and journalists, regardless of their attitude towards the processes developing in Ukrainian Orthodoxy, to refrain from aggressive rhetoric and to hold off on calling for violence or threatening thereof.
As religious citizens of Ukraine, we are united in the pursuit of peace for our country and restoring its territorial integrity. We pray for the repose of those who fell while defending our independence, and for all the victims of war. We pray for the recovery of the wounded, for well-being of the displaced persons, for the release of the prisoners.
We believe in the possibility of unity in diversity, for we are united through love of God, our Heavenly Father, and Ukraine, our earthly mother, and sacrificial service to neighbor.
God, Almighty and Only, save our Ukraine!
P.S. Given that the Open Orthodoxy Network today brings together the faithful of different denominations, this statement is open for signing not only by the clergy and faithful of the UOC, but also by representatives of other Churches, both in Ukraine and abroad.