REPORT
By His Grace Bishop
At the Synaxis of the Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne on
The Ecclesiastical Issue in Ukraine
(Constantinople, 1-3 September 2018)
The first local ecclesiastical community, formed immediately after the Baptism of Vladimir and Kyivans in 988, was organized as a metropolis under the direct authority of the Ecumenical Patriarch1, possessing, according to the Taktikon of Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118), the 60th place among the Dioceses of the Church of Constantinople and bearing the title "Metropolis of Kyiv and all Russia."2 During the Mongol invasion (1237-1340), the blossoming Metropolis of Kyiv suffered its first heavy blow. Most of its population moved to the north, and following their flock later elected Kyivan metropolitans resided not in Kyiv, but Vladimir, which was eventually approved and blessed by the Ecumenical Patriarchate with two ecclesiastical aspects underlined:
Firstly, the residence of the Metropolitan of Kyiv in Vladimir was considered from the point of view of oikonomia and socio-political reasons, and secondly, not the See of the Metropolitan of Kyiv was established in Vladimir but the "second see" since the Mother Church recognized the historicity and significance of Kyiv and because that was the very place "where the see of the above-mentioned metropolis was located."3The Metropolitan of Kyiv didn’t reside in Vladimir for long as Peter (1308-1326), ordained in 1308 Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Russia, moved the Kyiv Metropolis from Vladimir to Moscow in order to prove his support for Prince Yuri of Moscow, who conflicted with Prince Michael of Tver. Due to the presence of Metropolitan Peter, Yuri was able to successfully claim the title of Grand Duke while his main argument was..
continue reading click hear..