Filaret asks Epiphany not to leave him without money and to allow him to open a bank account
The head of the unrecognized UOC-KP Filaret asked the head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, created in December 2018 and subordinate to Constantinople, Epiphanius, to withdraw a letter to Oschadbank about closing the account of the Kyiv Patriarchate, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The press service of the UOC-KP reported this on Thursday.
“I ask you to withdraw your letter to Oschadbank about closing the account of the Kyiv Patriarchate and in the future not to interfere in the affairs of the UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate. Do not destroy the church, which was created through great labor and sorrow, but not yours,” the church’s press service cites the contents of his letter.
Filaret noted that, following Epiphany’s appeal, Oschadbank in Kyiv closed the account of the UOC-KP and called such actions “illegal.” He believes that the head of the OCU had no reason to write such letters, since on June 20, the UOC-KP at a local council decided to secede from the newly created OCU.
In December 2018, two unrecognized churches - the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) and the UOC-KP - announced the unification and creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which on January 6, 2019 received a tomos of autocephaly from the Ecumenical Patriarch.
Initially, Filaret was an active supporter of the creation of a new church structure and its receipt of a tomos from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. However, not having received the role in the OCU that he expected, Filaret began to criticize both the tomos and the activities of Epiphanius, and also announced the restoration of the UOC-KP. In this situation, the synod of the OCU deprived him of the right to govern the Kyiv diocese, and the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine announced the liquidation of the UOC-KP. Filaret accused the leadership of the OCU of conspiring with officials from the entourage of ex-president Petro Poroshenko and of intending to destroy the Kiev Patriarchate.
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