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OSW COMMENTARY NUMBER 289 1 Clergy and Monks Or Laypersons

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OSW COMMENTARY NUMBER 289 1 Clergy and Monks Or Laypersons Centre for Eastern Studies NUMBER 289 | 17.12.2018 www.osw.waw.pl Historic unification of Ukrainian Orthodox Church Tadeusz A. Olszański On 15 December in Kyiv, the Orthodox Church General Council of the Metropolis of Kyiv, which is subordinate to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, was convened. The attendees approved the statute presented by the Ecumenical Patriarch, and elected Metro- politan Epiphanius (bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate, UOC-KP) to be its superior. Epiphanius will be granted the tomos, giving the Metropolis of Kyiv autocephaly (canonical independence), in Istanbul on 6 January 2019. The newly founded church will be called the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, thus commencing the process of unification of the church structures of three Ukrainian orthodox churches: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), and the Ukrainian Ortho- dox Church (UOC), which recognises the primacy of the Moscow Patriarch. For the moment the number of priests and faithful of the Patriarch of Moscow that will move to the new Me- tropolis of Kyiv is not clear. The convening of the general council and election of the superior of the united church will not necessarily bring to an end the split within Ukrainian orthodoxy. This is merely the beginning of a complicated process that could trigger a series of conflicts within Ukraine and in Ukrainian-Russian relations. The convening of the Kyiv council is a success for Petro Poroshenko, who agreed the grant- ing of the tomos last spring with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in person. This will be a success actively exploited for the purpose of the presidential election campaign (31 March 2019), but does not guarantee that he will go through to the second round, let alone achieve ultimate victory. Kyiv unification council Ukrainian church to be granted autocephaly, the unification council had to be convened. According to a decision made by the Ecumen- It was attended by representatives of all three ical Patriarchate Council on 11 October this churches: all of the KP UOC and UAOC bishops year, the Metropolis of Kyiv (founded in the 11th (42 from the KP UOC and 12 from the UAOC) century, under the Moscow Patriarchate since and 2 bishops from the UOC (out of 73 current the XVII century) was restored and returned to active bishops)2. Each of the bishops was ac- the jurisdiction of Constantinople, but at that companied by one representative of the parish time was still not given autocephaly1. For the 2 The UOC has 52 dioceses and 12,000 parishes, the UOC- KP – 35 dioceses and 5,000 parishes, while the UAOC 1 T. Olszański, ‘The Ecumenical Patriarchate recognises has 14 dioceses and one thousand parishes. Релігія the independence of the Orthodox metropolis of Kiev’, і Церква в українському суспільстві: соціологічне OSW Analysis, 17.10.2018, https://www.osw.waw.pl/ дослідження-2018; 25.04.2018, http://razumkov.org.ua/ en/publikacje/analyses/2018-10-12/ecumenical-patriar- uploads/article/2018_Religiya.pdf. Numbers of faithful chate-recognises-independence-orthodox-metropolis vary and are not very reliable. OSW COMMENTARY NUMBER 289 1 clergy and monks or laypersons. The meeting God as Orans. For centuries, the mosaics have was jointly chaired in effect by the exarchate been known as the ‘Impenetrable Wall’ and are (delegate) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and considered a symbol and guarantee of the sur- the President of Ukraine. This system, known vival of Ukraine. The tomos, which establishes as the ‘general council’, ranks higher than the autocephaly of the Metropolis of Kyiv, was not synod of bishops. Of the bishops of the UOC, granted to the superior at the end of the council it was attended by Metropolitan Simeon of meeting, but this is to take place on 6 January Vinnytsia and Bar and Metropolitan Alexander 2019, on Christmas Eve in the Julian calendar, in of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky and Vyshneve, the Istanbul. As the meeting of the Kyiv council was principal advocate of autocephaly in the UOC. concluded successfully, this will be a formality. It was not attended by Metropolitan Sophroni- us of Cherkasy and Kaniv, who even last spring The Ukrainian Orthodox Church actively lobbied for autocephaly (due to the fact that he is 78 years old, the explanation that he The new church is to be called the ‘Orthodox was absent for reasons relating to health would Church in Ukraine’ (this is the form of names seem plausible). The lower number of UOC bish- of autocephalic orthodox churches in Greek), ops than expected (according to media reports, while in Ukraine the form ‘Ukrainian Orthodox last spring a letter to Patriarch Bartholomew Church’ (Prawosławna Cerkwa Ukrajiny, PCU) regarding the granting of autocephaly to the will be used. Initially, it will be possible to use Ukrainian church was signed by 10 bishops of phrases that do not confirm to a single style, the structure) is due to pressure successfully especially containing the words ‘autocephalic’ being applied by Moscow and the continually or ‘pomisna’ (particular). Contrary to common high level of mistrust of the KP UOC. expectations, in Ukraine the Ukrainian United Orthodox Church was not given the status of patriarchate, but metropolis. Some commen- All of the KP UOC and UAOC bishops, tators believe that the patriarchate will be the and only two out of the 73 UOC bishops, next step in the process of Ukraine gaining ec- attended the council meeting. clesial independence, but this does not seem very probable. This is not only because of the self-proclamation of the Kyiv Patriarchate in The council meeting proceeded efficiently and 1992 (without reference to the Ecumenical Pa- only lasted a few hours. Bishops, priests, and triarchate and other autocephalic churches) but laypersons approved the metropolitan stat- also because modern Orthodoxy does not cre- ute and elected the superior, whose title will ate new patriarchates3. Moreover, the Ecumeni- be Metropolitan of Kyiv and All-Ukraine. The cal Patriarch does not wish to antagonise other person elected was Metropolitan Epiphanius Particular Churches. It is possible however that (see biography attached), who is just under 40 the Metropolis of Kyiv could be elevated to the years old, viceroy of Patriarch Filaret, de facto status of patriarchate in the future, but this will the person in charge of the KP UOC since 2013 depend on how the process of uniting Ukraini- (the Patriarch, almost 90 years old, remains the an orthodoxy proceeds. spiritual leader). The council met in the most The elderly Filaret, whose ninetieth birthday sacred venue in Ukraine – in the grand nave on 23 January 2019 has been registered by the of the Kyiv Cathedral of St. Sophia (the Wisdom Supreme Council as a state ceremony, was of God), built at the beginning of the XI century at the foot of mosaics dating back to the time 3 The last was appointed in 1925, for Romania, while the Bulgaria patriarchate proclaimed in 1955 was a return to of construction, showing the Holy Mother of the Bulgarian church structure of the middle ages. OSW COMMENTARY NUMBER 289 2 awarded the lifelong title of honourable pa- Poroshenko’s pre-election manoeuvring triarch by the council. He intended to seek the position of superior of the new church but re- The President of Ukraine was not only present at linquished the plan when it was explicitly for- the council meeting (on the presidium alongside bidden by Patriarch Bartholomew (the superior the representative of the Ecumenical Patriarch) of the UAOC, Metropolitan Macarius, revealed but he also made a speech at the beginning of that he was also forbidden from doing this) and the proceedings, whereby he informally became probably conceded in return for the council’s the joint chair. On 16 December, meanwhile, at support for the candidature of Metropolitan a press conference, he revealed that in the days Epiphanius. leading up to the council meeting he mediated personally in numerous disputes and conflicts between representatives of the churches. When When Poroshenko delivered his speech as the proceedings were concluded, President Po- the council meeting ended, he announced roshenko came out together with the new Met- that the state would protect the rights of ropolitan on to the square in front of the Cathe- those who wished to move to the auto- dral of St. Sophia, where a patriotic and religious cephalous church. convention attended by several thousand peo- ple, chaired by Minister of Culture, Yevhen Ny- schuk, had been going on since morning. Once Future Kyiv metropolitans will not be confirmed the minister had formally presented Metropoli- by the Ecumenical Patriarch in any form, and tan Epiphanius, Poroshenko gave a speech. This the Ecumenical Patriarchate will also have no procedure resembled the investiture of a bishop influence over the forming of the synod super- by monarch in the middle ages, a gesture that vising the work of the metropolis. On the other blatantly disregarded the division of church and hand, the Kyiv Metropolis statute drawn up in state. In his speech, the President of Ukraine said Istanbul provides for a solution that has never on the one hand that he did not intend to create been seen in Ukraine before: the synod is to be a state church, but on the other he suggested made up of 12 bishops elected for terms of one a special relationship between the state and the year, while half of the members will be replaced new Church that was in the process of being semi-annually (the institution of permanent created, and announced that the state would members of the synod has been abolished). This protect the rights of those who wished to move is a revolution in management of the church, from the UOC to the autocephalous church.
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