CONSTANTINOPLE EXARCH CALLS UKRAINIAN CHURCH'S MOVEMENT TO AUTOCEPHALY 'IRREVERSIBLE'

Constantinople exarch calls Ukrainian church's movement to autocephaly 'irreversible'

Moscow, September 26, Interfax - The Ukrainian church's movement toward autocephaly is "irreversible," said Archbishop Daniel of Pamphilon, who was recently appointed the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople' exarch in Kiev.

"As for the future of the Holy Orthodox Church of Ukraine - we are living it already. The path to the Autocephaly is irreversible," Archbishop Daniel wrote on Facebook.

"Millions of Ukrainians have the canonical right to enjoy their own local church with the right to worship freely in their native language and according to the sacred traditions of the venerable fathers and mothers of Kyiv Rus-Ukraine; to honor the saintly efforts of clergy and faithful who have been exiled and marked as 'inconvenient' or even martyred by the religious and political regimes of the past," he wrote.

Discussing the various interpretations of the history of the transfer of the Kyiv diocese to the Moscow Patriarchate, Archbishop Daniel mentioned "the ministry of a true shepherd who cares for his flock and would leave the 99 he knows to be safe in order to seek and return the one in the wilderness."

"In my opinion, at this particular time of history, the only individual who has exhibited the will to imitate Christ and act with His intentions and through His teachings is His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew," he wrote.