SEBASTIAN RIMESTAD: MY VIEW ON THE UKRAINIAN CHURCH ISSUE

SEBASTIAN RIMESTAD: MY VIEW ON THE UKRAINIAN CHURCH ISSUE

Dr. Sebastian Rimestad has a Ph.D and Habilitationschrift from the Ertfurt University, having also studied at the universities of Aberdeen and Tartu. He posted his views in his personal Fb account

A - The Orthodox Church is traditionally organised as territorially defined independent (autocephalous) churches. However, since the last Ecumenical Council (acknowledged as such by the Orthodox Church) in 787 AD, there has been no supreme instance recognising autocephaly, and the churches have relied on mutual recognition. This worked fine in many cases, but there are some that prove more difficult than others - for example Ukraine.

B - The Church of Kiev, which was founded with Prince Vladimir in the year 988, then reported to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (EP), who assigned the Metropolitans of Kiev etc. The Church only became autocephalous several centuries later, after the capital of the Rus' (Russia's predecessor) had moved to Moscow, whereas Kiev was situated in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Moscow Russians considered themselves independent already 1448, but officially were recognised as such by Constantinople only in 1589, when they also became the Patriarchate of Moscow (MP).

C - In 1686, there was an agreement between the EP and the MP that the MP was to select the Metropolitan of Kiev, although the latter technically still belonged to the Church of the EP.

D - big jump forward in time, to 1991, when Ukraine becomes independent from the Soviet Union, and immediately there are voices, who argue that an independent Ukraine needs an autocephalous church. There had been similar voices in the 1920s and also in the 1940s (during the war), but MP refuses to accord full independence (autocephaly), claiming that wide internal autonomy is sufficient. As a result, the Orthodox Church in Ukraine splits into three (four) branches –

1. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the MP (UOCMP), which is the only recognised structure by world Orthodoxy;

2. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate (UOCKP), led by self-proclaimed Patriarch Filaret (Denysenko), not recognised by any other recognised Orthodox Church. Filaret also has a dubious past, with KGB-involvement (who hasn't?) and even a secret wife and children. The MP decides to declare him schismatic and even excommunicate him - officially not because of his personal issues, but because he undermines MP integrity.

3. The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), which had existed in the 1920s and 1940s and is especially strong in the North American Ukrainian community. MP never recognised any part of this church, but EP accepted its North American structures under his jurisdiction in 1991.

4. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is a revival of the Uniate Church that has existed in the region between Catholicism and Orthodoxy since 1596. It is an Orthodox Rite Church that has acknowledged the universal jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff. I will not mention this group anymore.

E - This year, as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko petitioned the EP with parliamentary backing to create a single unified Ukrainian independent Orthodox Church, the EP decided to study the documents and came to the conclusion that the 1686 decision still is valid, making the Metropolia of Kiev technically an EP-controlled territory. On October 11, the EP made the decision to rehabilitate the leaders of the two 'schismatic' churches in Ukraine, in order to prepare the way for a Council of all Bishops of all three Ukrainian Orthodox Churches that would found a united church and elect a leader, whom the EP then would be able to accord autocephaly.

F - This plan would work perfectly, were it not for the opposition from the MP, which tries, with all its power, to discredit the EP and its decision. It uses Filaret's personality, historical precedence, and previous standpoints of the EP that contradict his current ones to do this. Moreover, both sides accuse the other of spreading disinformation, which is not an exaggeration.

G - The MP has, on October 15, decided to break communion with the EP. This means that the MP considers the EP schismatic and no longer part of the Orthodox Church. So far, no other church has officially sided with one or the other Patriarchate, but this also means that apart from the MP, nobody has broken communion with each other. The EP still considers the MP part of the Orthodox Church and hopes it will agree to its conditions in Ukraine.