Exarchs Bartholomew in Kyiv: “autocephaly is a settled issue”
Petro Poroshenko held a meeting in Kyiv with the previously appointed exarchs of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to Ukraine, Archbishop Daniel of Pamphlia from the USA and Bishop Hilarion of Edmonton from Canada, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The meeting was broadcast on Poroshenko’s Facebook page.
It is reported that the exarchs of Constantinople arrived in Ukraine “in preparation for the granting of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine.”
“We came on an emergency mission in order to continue working on the issue that has already been resolved, that the process of granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian church has already begun. We are at the finish line and we will go to the finish line,” said Archbishop Daniel.
In turn, the bishop of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, Metropolitan Emmanuel of Gallia, said that the exarchs appointed to Kyiv will help pave the way for autocephaly.
According to Emmanuel, “The Patriarchate of Constantinople, as the mother church, after a deep analysis of the issue, decided to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” and added that “the Metropolitan of Kiev was canonically subordinate to the Ecumenical Patriarch.”
The exarchs also assure that they came not to divide Ukrainian Orthodoxy, but on the contrary, to bring the desired unification in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and are ready to work for this both with the non-canonical UOC-KP and UAOC, and with the canonical UOC.
Also, the exarchs of Constantinople conveyed to Poroshenko a message from Patriarch Bartholomew.
Let us recall that on September 7, the Synod of the Church of Constantinople sent two authorized representatives with the status of “exarchs” to Kyiv. This step of Constantinople was sharply criticized in the UOC, and the Russian Orthodox Church suspended the prayerful commemoration of Patriarch Bartholomew during its church services.
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