Bartholomew has Constantine only to thank for the honor of first among equals.
Metropolitan of Kiev and all Ukraine Onuphriy is the true head of the persecuted and banned Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Onuphriy is the real Orthodox primate in Ukraine.
And I mean the real Ukrainian Orthodox Church, not the One formed by Poroshenko, Pompeo, and Bartholomew.
Tikhon, metropolitan of America and Canada, supports Onuphriy.
It did not have to happen, this divison, and I think it symptomatic of the current Western obsession to meddle in affairs that is NONE of its business.
Kirill is right. It’s political, and simply wrong.
Is it something in the water?
Nope. The Ukrainian joke is not recognized by any of the other Orthodox. Never has been.
“Metropolitan of Kiev and all Ukraine Onuphriy is the true head of the persecuted and banned Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Onuphriy is the real Orthodox primate in Ukraine.”
Oh, quit with the high drama: The Ukrainian Orthodox Church was not persecuted or banned; the only crackdown was against the branch that was under the Moscow Patriarchate (the “Kirillian” branch). That Kirillian branch does not recognize Onuphriy as its patriarch.
Onuphriy has taken the following positions: He supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine; he stated that there were no priests in the Ukrainian Church who supported separatism; he said that “in a situation of continued military confrontation in eastern Ukraine, we emphasize that we unfailingly stand on the side of peace and support all peace initiatives of the UKRAINIAN authorities”; he said Russia’s invasion was a disaster for Ukraine, and that the war has no justification either from God or from people; he expressed “our special love and support to our soldiers who stand guard and protect and defend our land and our people. May God bless and cherish them!”
It sure doesn’t sound like Onuphriy is any kind of fan of Putin or Kirill.