Filaret told Ekho Moskvy about how he lives under anathema
The anathema imposed on the head of the self-proclaimed UOC-KP Filaret by the Russian Orthodox Church does not have any meaning for him, but no one will lift it, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Filaret himself stated this in an interview with the editor-in-chief of “Echo of Mokva” Alexei Venediktov, who asked him about “what is it like to live under anathema?”, due to the fact that Filaret has been living like this for 20 years.
“For me, anathema has no meaning. Whether I am under anathema or without anathema, I feel the same. I know and am convinced of this that the anathema given by the Orthodox Church for heresies, for schisms, for chips that lead either to violations of the canons or morality. I don’t have any of this behind me. Therefore, I believe that this anathema is invalid. It is political in nature. That's why I don't recognize her. It’s not just me who doesn’t recognize it, our entire church doesn’t recognize it. Otherwise, if this anathema had been recognized, then the Kyiv Patriarchate would not have existed. And so the Kiev Patriarchate not only exists, but it has become the largest church in Ukraine,” said the head of the UOC-KP.
In addition, according to Filaret, no one will lift the anathema from him, even if the Ukrainian Church receives a tomos of autocephaly from Constantinople.
“No one will lift the anathema. Because she recognizes it as invalid. This is what it will be. That the anathema is invalid. And since the anathema is invalid, then all the consecrations to the bishop that I performed are valid. This is what the Ecumenical Patriarch will need to do. Because I addressed the ecumenical patriarch. And not only to the universal. I also addressed other Eastern patriarchs,” he added.
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