The meeting convened by Honorary Patriarch Filaret (Denisenko) on June 20 and called by him the Local Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) cancelled a resolution of the Dec. 15, 2018 Bishops’ Council of the UOC-KP on its liquidation.
“The Local Council does not approve but cancels the resolution of the bishops’ or so-called Local Council because it was not a Local Council but the collection of signatures of hierarchs, one priest and two laymen on the nominal liquidation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate at the requirement of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. The unifying council of Ukrainian churches on Dec. 15, 2018, and the issue of the tomos of autocephaly would have been impossible without the nominal liquidation of the Kyiv patriarchate,” a resolution of the Local Council of the UOC-KP obtained by Interfax-Ukraine says.
The document says that the UOC-KP “is registered by a state body and continues to exist and operate.”
It also says that Patriarch of Kyiv and all Russia Filaret “elected for life at the Local Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate) on October 20-22, 1995” remains UOC-KP head.
In line with the resolution, the UOC-KP continues to own all means and property acquired at its own expense or received from government bodies or local self-government bodies, including churches, monasteries and educational institutions. All bank accounts are accounts of the Kyiv Patriarchate as a legal entity.
All the monasteries in Kyiv as well as all the parishes in Kyiv are to be governed by the Kyiv Patriarchate, the document says.
The resolution says that the tomos of autocephaly extended to the new church of Ukraine on Jan. 6, in Istanbul does not comply with the charter of autocephalous Churches as it makes UOC dependent on the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
“The council thanks Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and all bishops of the Mother Church for attempting to resolve the Ukrainian church problem but we are not satisfied with the contents of the tomos of autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” the resolution says.
The document says that the charter of UOC-KP adopted at the council on May 13, 2016, and registered by the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture on July 8, 2016, remains its effective charter.
