Archimandrite
Cyril (Hovorun) called positive yesterday’s decision of the Synod of
the Orthodox Church of Greece regarding the right of Constantinople to
solve the Ukrainian question.
In his opinion, in October this year, the
issue of recognition of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine by the Greek
Church will be finalized. The Archimandrite wrote this on his Facebook
page.
"My comment (at the request of Cerkvarium) regarding today's decision of the Synod of the Orthodox Church of Greece:
The Synod of the Church of Greece recognized the right of
Constantinople to resolve the Ukrainian issue, and thus in fact
recognized the canonical nature of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's
decisions regarding Ukraine, including the Tomos. In my opinion, it is
already possible to talk about the recognition of the Ukrainian Church,
which is mentioned in the communique of the Synod without quotes, the
wordings such as "so-called", etc.," said the theologian.
"On the other hand, the recognition of the new Church automatically
triggers a series of protocol procedures, such as remembering of the
name of the new Primate at the Liturgy, peace visits, and the like. The
Synod confirmed the right of the Archbishop of Athens to decide on these
issues individually.
In its decisions, the Synod actually adopted the conclusions of the
two Synodal commissions, which unanimously recommended to recognize the
OCU and leave the identification of the further protocol-related steps
under Archbishop's responsibility.
But the Archbishop seems to be willing to get advice from the
Council, which will be held in October, prior to exercising this right.
He is most likely to do it, even despite the absence of the Ukrainian
issue on the Council's agenda.
Already before the Synod, the Archbishop had held consultations on
Ukraine with Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis and found his
support to a positive solution of the Ukrainian question.
Therefore, my conclusion is that today's decision is fundamental, and
it is fundamentally positive. In October, some less important protocol
issues related to the OCU will be finally settled," said Archimandrite
Cyril (Hovorun).