The Orthodox Church of Ukraine representatives emphasize that Filaret
has no right to convoke such an assembly on his own behalf and call it a
'Council'. This is reported by ZN.
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine has officially warned Patriarch
Emeritus Filaret that holding the “Local Council” of the dissolved Kyiv
Patriarchate would mean a split. The official statement also warns that
the participants of such a 'Council' will be excommunicated.
“Patriarch Emeritus” Filaret has no right to convoke on his own
behalf the “Local Council of the UOC-KP” either under the Charter of the
Orthodox Church of Ukraine, or under the Charter of the dissolved
UOC-KP. The voluntary and non-statutory conduct of an assembly of a
group of unauthorized persons -- such assembly being referred to as the
Council -- will constitute the church split and the secession of
organizers and participants of such meetings from the Orthodox Church of
Ukraine with all canonical and legal consequences,” the statement
warns.
The OCU has reminded that last year the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of
the Kyiv Patriarchate ceased its activities as a separate religious
association. After the decision of the Local Council of the UOC-KP,
which took place on December 18, 2018, the Kyiv Patriarchate joined the
newly-established OCU.
Filaret announced that he had decided to convoke the Local Council of
the Kyiv Patriarchate -- which was no longer in existence on June 20 --
to prove that it “has existed, still exists and will exist”. At the
same time, he noted that he did not recognize the Tomos of autocephaly
of the OCU, since he had not been familiarized with his text [before
signing it].
In May, Filaret stated in his appeal that his rejection of the status
of the patriarchate at the Local Council in December 2018 does not mean
anything, and that, allegedly, no one dissolved the Kyiv Patriarchate.
Analysts say that since the OCU was set up, a confrontation for
influence in the Church has evolved between Epifaniy and Filaret. In
particular, Patriarch Emeritus Filaret is not satisfied with his
symbolic status and is trying to get a decisive influence on the life of
the Church. In an invitation to honor the memory of the Hieromartyr
Macarius printed on the letterheads of the UOC-KP, he tried to verify
the number of hierarchs who could support his idea of restoration of
the UOC-KP. At the same time, after the scandal broke out, a number of
eparchies of the OCU made open statements in support of Epifaniy.
On May 10, the Primate of the OCU, Metropolitan Epifaniy said that
the Ukrainian Orthodox Church- Kyiv Patriarchate legally ceased to exist
in the course of the Unification Council of December 15, 2018 and its
restoration is tantamount to loss of the Tomos.