Novynskyi called on the Kyiv Patriarchate to repent

Novynskyi called on the Kyiv Patriarchate to repent

His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, did not approve the request of Ukrainian people's deputies to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

INFORMATOR obtained a comment from a representative of the political force that did not cast a single vote for the bill on church autonomy.

“Patriarch Bartholomew simply decided not to violate any church laws or church traditions. He did what he was supposed to do. Whether this was the result of our work or his own reflections, I do not know. Most likely, it is the Patriarch’s conviction that one must not violate church canon. Systematically, for more than 20 years he has maintained neutrality and did not interfere in Ukraine’s church affairs. Bartholomew wants religious peace in Ukraine and seeks to preserve the canonical order. We asked him to continue working to avoid a schism.”

“I consider this our success, because those people to whom we said ‘do not violate the laws of Ukraine, which state that the church is separate from the state’ received a sympathetic reply from the Patriarch,” Novynskyi said.

“Three Greek Catholics were coauthors of this resolution – Andriy Parubiy, Andriy Levus, and Mykola Kniazhytsky. It surprises me when Greek Catholics help the Orthodox arrange their affairs. We will sort it out ourselves.”

“I have never had relations with the Kyiv Patriarchate. Personally, I have never communicated with its representatives.”

“In fact they (supporters of the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – ed.) went into schism in 1992. As a supporter of canonical church traditions, I believe they should repent and return to the bosom of the church. That way, Ukraine will gain unity in Orthodoxy. It is very much needed today.”

“Everything must come through repentance and reconciliation. Schismatics attack churches, beat priests, and all this happens under the cover of the current authorities,” the deputy believes.

“Politicians should do everything possible to promote interconfessional peace in Ukraine and prevent any attempts to seize churches and other provocative actions by the Kyiv Patriarchate.

“One day the church in Ukraine will be united, maybe not today, not tomorrow, perhaps in 20 or 50 years,” Vadym Novynskyi summed up his view.

Recall that the Opposition Bloc opposed the autocephaly of the UOC. The party’s deputies sent an appeal to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in which they advocated preserving Russian Orthodoxy in Ukraine. Representatives of the political force stated that “the schism of Ukrainian Orthodoxy in 1992 was artificially created,” but “Ukrainian society did not support the schism, nor the politicians who instigated it.”

A representative of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople reacted negatively to the appeal of Ukrainian people's deputies asking to grant autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. The Verkhovna Rada adopted the corresponding appeal on 16 June. For it voted 245 people's deputies.

The deputies asked the Ecumenical Patriarch to declare the act of 1686 invalid as one adopted in violation of the sacred canons of the Orthodox Church and to take an active role in overcoming the consequences of the church division by convening, under the aegis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, an All-Ukrainian Unifying Council that would resolve all controversial issues and unite Ukrainian Orthodoxy.

14 people's deputies voted against adopting this appeal, 11 of whom were members of the Opposition Bloc faction.

On 23 June a clash took place in the Rivne region between Vadym Novynskyi and Metropolitan Oleksandr Drabynka.