print this pageRussian Orthodox Question Statement of Constantinople Representative
30.03.2005, [10:17] // Foreign relations //
Moscow – Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, official representative of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), said he questions reports about an alleged statement Archbishop Vsevolod (Majdanski), Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA (UOC USA) and a representative of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, made during a meeting of the official delegation of the Constantinople Patriarchate with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on. 24 March. Archbishop Vsevolod said that Constantinople does not accept the canonical legality of the Kyivan Metropolitanate’s subordination to the Moscow Patriarchate since 1686. Sedmitza.ru posted the news on 28 March 2005.
“Archbishop Vsevolod of Skopelos, with whom I have met many times during discussions of the Ukrainian issue, has never expressed doubts of the legality and conformity with the canons of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is an autonomous part of the Moscow Patriarchate,” Fr. Balashov said.
Fr. Balashov recalled that Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople officially stated during a visit to the Russian Orthodox Church in July 1993 that “the Ecumenical Patriarchate acknowledges only one canonical metropolitan of Kyiv, His Excellency Volodymyr, metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine.”
“For centuries nobody doubted the legal and canonical character of the Moscow Patriarchate’s jurisdiction in Ukraine. It is recognized by all Orthodox churches,” Fr. Balashov added.
In conclusion Fr. Balashov repeated that the Russian Orthodox Church has “major doubts” about whether “the statement contains the official position of the Constantinople Patriarchate.”
Fr. Balashov deemed it possible to comment on the publicized statement only after the official position of Constantinople is known.
RISU note: The English text of the press release containing the statement of Archbishop Vsevolod in question is available on the official website of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA, which belongs to the jurisdiction of the Constantinople Patriarchate (see link BELOW).
Sources:
• http://www.sedmitza.ru
• http://www.ukrainianorthodoxchurchusa.org/news/PR_032505.sht
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