Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople wants to put his own man at the head of the new church formation in Ukraine, but schismatics from the “Kyiv Patriarchate” and officials of Petro Poroshenko’s administration think differently.
Political scientist Kirill Molchanov stated this at a press conference in Kyiv, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“One of the most powerful challenges facing this “council” is the issue of political leadership. The state perceives the “local Church” as a political project that is entirely in the service of the authorities. Therefore, neither Pyotr Alekseevich nor Filaret himself are absolutely satisfied with any options when some person of Bartholomew becomes the head of this “Church”.
And for Constantinople, no person from Ukraine is absolutely unacceptable.
It is not clear how they will get out of the situation when the mountain gives birth to a mouse, and even the voting process in choosing a primate on Saturday will be blocked - because Filaret has already repeatedly made statements that he is not going to resign, he is “the Patriarch, and they will die."
I don’t think there’s any way to pacify his ambitions.
Bartholomew has completely different plans. I do not rule out that in this situation the question of ambition, who can lead it all, can again cancel out all these unification processes that we observed both under Yushchenko and in the 90s.
Probably, Bartholomew still did not quite understand who he had contacted. The Kyiv “bishops” are not going to give up just like that, without a fight - and they will not swear allegiance to the same Constantinople.
Even though Filaret’s comrades are not recognized by world Orthodoxy, they are recognized by the secular authorities, which consider him an absolutely legitimate patriarch... Why should he exchange this status for unknown bonuses - despite the fact that he will not be second, but third after God?” - said the political scientist.