The UOC demanded that the media refute information about the granting of autocephaly
Ukrainian media spread untrue information that the Patriarchate of Constantinople allegedly decided to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church. Metropolitan Emmanuel of Gallia, to whom journalists refer, did not say anything about this when commenting on the results of the meeting of the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Moscow in Istanbul.
This was reported by the Synodal Information and Educational Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) on its official website.
The true words of the Metropolitan of Gallia are quoted: “As you know, a schism has been ongoing in Ukraine for more than 25 years, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate has decided to consider all the ways in which the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church can be proclaimed. It was this decision that was made in April, and we are already implementing this decision, and the Ecumenical Patriarch also informed Patriarch Kirill about this during his visit...”
The UOC emphasizes that the above phrase does not contain the statement that the decision on autocephaly has already been made: the Patriarchate of Constantinople is looking for a solution to the “Ukrainian issue.”
“Whether the Patriarchate of Constantinople has been able to find options for granting autocephaly since April, and if so, how it sees them, is not reported in the speech of Metropolitan Emmanuel. The highly respected hierarch has not reported whether the Patriarchate of Constantinople intends to implement these options if they are theoretically found by it,” says the statement of the Synodal Information and Educational Department of the UOC.
They believe that a number of Ukrainian media, in particular the Hromadske website, not only incorrectly interpreted the words of Metropolitan Emmanuel of Gaul, but also “deliberately or carelessly published an incorrect version of the translation from English.”
“Unfortunately, many information resources, without checking the accuracy of the information on the Hromadske website, copied it and spread outright misinformation. By this they caused reputational damage to the well-known hierarch of our time, Metropolitan Emmanuel of Gallia, who spoke on behalf of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Such actions by representatives of the journalistic community, like any deception, create a threat to inter-Orthodox dialogue on the issue of overcoming the church schism in Ukraine. The information resources that spread the fake news must immediately refute it and apologize to readers,” the message says.
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