Thread by @Favillez

1) A very interesting statement by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP), which unfortunately I only saw today. The key point of the statement, in my view is where the synod says that it has been discussing its future. Could we be on the verge of a distancing from Moscow?

2) "Another issue that has worried many lately concerns the future of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Holy Synod states that today this issue is the subject of church discussion. In some dioceses there are meetings of the clergy, who express their position.

3) The information comes to the Primate. The Holy Synod welcomes the possibility of a thorough & comprehensive discussion of issues of church life, as the manifestation of the conciliar nature of the Church. But this process must take place without disturbing the church order.

4) In the near future, a meeting will be convened with the participation of bishops, priests, monks and laity to discuss the problems of church life that have arisen as a result of the war and which concern us all.

5) At the same time, we emphasize that we must do everything possible so that the discussion on this or that issue does not take us out of the canonical field and does not lead to new divisions in the Church."

6) So it does look like the Church is finally beginning to see that its relationship with Moscow is, in this light, untenable. But what are the alternatives?
The only realistic option would seem to be to merge with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine based in Kiev, but...

7) not only would this create a huge number of problems - what to do with two metropolitans? what to do with overlapping dioceses and bishops? - but there is also the fact that in this same statement the Church lashes out at the UOC-KP, even blaming it for the invasion

8) After criticising, quite rightly IMO, attempts to criminilise its activities in Ukraine, the synod says "We note with sadness that all these facts are the result of erroneous religious policy during the presidency of P.O. Poroshenko and the destructive ideology of the

9) so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine. We are convinced that such activities of the previous government and the PCU became one of the reasons for the military invasion of Ukraine."
So not exactly building bridges there... Though maybe shoring up trumps for eventual negotiation?

10) The rest of the statement includes many condemnations of the war, and calls for unity in the face of the Russian threat. Not exactly towing the line of Moscow. We shall see what the future holds!

#UkraineRussiaWar #RussianOrthodoxChurch @austeni @UkrainianOrtho @OrthoDialogue @irgarner @SonofImmaculate @HispanicNewYork
@MaryEsslinger1 @MaryKennan1 @jwgerst @OlderGf
@dmzande @davidMBBell @AndrewLevitskiy @ShellyH54989278 @GilgalMedia @kyrillosgavriil @bogdanovskiA

@UnrollHelper

And, of course, it goes without saying that this statement has been added to the blog post
actualidadereligiosa.blogspot.com/2022/02/war-in… (Scroll down)