“The
Holy Bishops’ Council of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church got
acquainted with the correspondence on autocephaly in Ukraine, which was
obtained from: Constantinople, Alexandria, Russia, Serbia, Romania,
Albania, Cyprus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, the UN Human
Rights Council and letters by groups of believers of the Polish
Autocephalous Orthodox Church,” the Council’s Statement says.
The
Bishops’ Council stated that the Polish Orthodox Church reaffirms its
position on the church situation in Ukraine, which was expressed in
Resolutions of May 9, 2018, and of November 15, 2018.
His
Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa, the Primate of the Polish Orthodox Church,
on behalf of the Bishops’ Council, stated that his Church has
advocated “granting full independence – autocephaly to the Orthodox
Church in Ukraine”, meaning under the term “Orthodox Church in Ukraine”
the form of the administrative order of the canonical Church, not the
“OCU” religious group newly created with the help of the Phanar.
“The
autocephaly of the Church in Ukraine should be based on the dogmatic
and canonical norms of the whole Church, not those of a group of
schismatics. Those who stepped outside the Church, being deprived of
priestly ordination at that, cannot represent a healthy church organism.
This is a non-canonical act that violates Eucharistic and
inter-Orthodox unity,” the Statement reads.
The document also
stated that the Polish Orthodox Church cooperates with other Local
Churches in order to regulate the church life in Ukraine. The bishops of
the Polish Church call upon all those who hold dear the unity of
Orthodoxy to pray that God may give this unity to fraternal Ukraine.
Information-Education Department
Ukrainian Orthodox Church
DECR Communication Service