• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home World

Moscow Rages as Ukrainian Church’s Independence Recognized

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
10/11/18
in World
A Russian church

Photo: Mladen Antonov, AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate on Thursday said it had agreed to recognize the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, in a move welcomed with jubilation by Kiev but condemned as “catastrophic” in Moscow.

Russia had warned against allowing the Ukraine Church to sever its ties with Moscow, with the powerful head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, travelling to Istanbul earlier this year in a bid to dissuade the patriarchate.

The issue is set to play a key role in Ukraine’s March 2019 presidential elections, with incumbent President Petro Poroshenko making independence from the Russian Orthodox Church — known as autocephaly — a key issue as he plans a re-election bid.

Poroshenko quickly hailed the decision of the Patriarchate, which is based in its historic home of Istanbul, the former Constantinople and once the capital of the Byzantine Empire before the Ottoman Muslim conquest of 1453.

“This is a victory of good over evil, light over darkness,” Poroshenko said in televised remarks, adding that Ukraine has been waiting for this “historic event” for more than 330 years.

But the Russian Orthodox Church said that the Patriarchate had taken “catastrophic” decisions both for itself and global Orthodoxy.

“The Patriarchate of Constantinople has crossed a red line,” a spokesman for Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, Alexander Volkov, said in televised remarks.

Historic day for #Ukraine & #Orthodox world. Synod of @EcuPatriarch made a decision to restore justice&opened a way for #UA Church's independence from #Moscow. It's a strong signal to everyone who in the 21st century uses #Church to control the neighbors.Religion is not a weapon

— Ivanna Klympush (@IKlympush) October 11, 2018

‘Canonically Reinstated’

The Patriarchate of Moscow, which is strongly backed by the Kremlin, argues it technically oversees most of Ukraine’s Orthodox parishes and has warned that independence would provoke a rift in global Orthodoxy.

The Ukrainian Church is currently split into three bodies, one technically overseen by the Patriarch of Moscow, a fact the Kiev government considers unacceptable given its ongoing war with Russia-backed rebels in the east.

An Istanbul synod meeting chaired by Patriarch Bartholomew, seen as the first among equals of Orthodox Church leaders, “decreed to proceed to the granting of autocephaly to the Church of Ukraine,” said an official statement read in Istanbul, formerly Constantinople.

In another key move, the synod also agreed to reinstate the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Patriarch Filaret and Kiev Metropolitan Makariy to their canonical ranks following their excommunication in the dispute with Moscow.

“Thus, the above-mentioned have been canonically reinstated to their hierarchical or priestly rank,” said the statement after a meeting that began on Tuesday.

‘Serve Ukrainian People’

Ukraine’s Orthodox church split from Moscow in the 1990s, with the charismatic Filaret a foremost proponent of a new independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

In his first reaction, Filaret said Thursday’s decision would allow his country to finally establish a united church in Ukraine and vowed to soon convene a meeting to address the issue of unification and elect a new patriarch.

“We want the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be united not only in appearance but also in spirit so that it could serve the Ukrainian people,” Filaret told reporters outside St. Volodymyr Cathedral in Kiev.

The Moscow Patriarchate has already downgraded its ties with Bartholomew I over the affair, which it considers an unjust encroachment on its spiritual territory.

On Wednesday, an influential Moscow Patriarch cleric went so far as to warn that parishioners will not hand over churches to a new Orthodox institution willingly.

“Of course, people will take to streets and protect their sacred sites,” Hilarion, a bishop in charge of diplomacy at the Patriarchate, was quoted by Russian agencies as saying at a religious congress in Kazakhstan.

Bartholomew I, a Turkish citizen of Greek origin who commands huge international respect for promoting inter-faith dialogue, will also not want to antagonize the Turkish authorities who are pressing a policy of a strong alliance with Russia.

Ukraine and Russia have been at loggerheads since 2014 when Kiev street protests urging Ukrainian integration with Europe prompted the ousting of pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych.

Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea later that year and backed rebels who carved out two unrecognized breakaway regions in Ukraine’s mineral-rich east in a conflict that continues to this day.

Ukrainian authorities and many worshippers are wary of the influence of Kirill, a strong ally of President Vladimir Putin who has supported the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and the separatists in the east of the country.

Patriotic Youth Camps: Recruiting Next Generation ‘Russian World’ Supporters

Share6Tweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Twitter logo
Democracy at Risk

Russia Extends Twitter Slowdown, Deadline to Remove Content

by Staff Writer
April 5, 2021
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Democracy at Risk

Navalny Says Health Deteriorating, Suffering Sleep Deprivation ‘Torture’

by Staff Writer
March 25, 2021
This combination of pictures created on March 17, 2021, shows US President Joe Biden (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
National

Russia Recalls US Envoy After Biden Threatens ‘Killer’ Putin

by Staff Writer
March 18, 2021
People lay flowers in central Moscow at the site where late opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was fatally shot, February 27, 2021.
World

Russians Mark Sixth Anniversary of Kremlin Critic’s Murder

by Staff Writer
February 27, 2021
Alexey Navalny turned his February 2 hearing into a blistering attack on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Democracy at Risk

Caged in Court, Navalny Mocks Putin and Chases Fans

by Staff Writer
February 12, 2021
Russian police raiding the house of a Jehovah’s Witness in Crimea.
World

Moscow Police Raid Homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses

by Staff Writer
February 10, 2021
Next Post
Thousands of Russians protested against the pension reform that will raise the pension age.

Russia's Pension Reform: Beginning of End of Putin's Regime?

Syrians at a site of car bomb in Idlib

Aid Groups Worried as Deadline Looms for Syria's Idlib

Recommended

Egyptian journalist Solafa Magdy (R) and her photojournalist husband Hossam El-Sayed

Egypt Frees Journalist Couple After Jail Time

April 14, 2021
Iranian flag

After Natanz Blast, Iran Vows to Ramp Up Uranium Enrichment

April 13, 2021
A candlelight vigil in Garden Grove, California, after the shooting that left eight people dead in Atlanta, including six Asian women

American Nightmare: The Asian-American Experience

April 13, 2021
The hotel in Vienna that hosted talks over the Iran nuclear deal in February 2016.

EU ‘Rejects Any Attempts’ to Undermine Iran Nuclear Talks

April 12, 2021
Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth

Too Much? UK TV Viewers Complain About Prince Philip Coverage

April 10, 2021
US Capitol building

US Congress to Study Slavery Reparations Amid Racial Reckoning

April 9, 2021

Opinion

A candlelight vigil in Garden Grove, California, after the shooting that left eight people dead in Atlanta, including six Asian women

American Nightmare: The Asian-American Experience

April 13, 2021
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson delivers a speech, 2016

The Hippocratic Oath Stops at the Arkansas Border

April 8, 2021
Erdogan Threatens to Open Europe Gates for Refugees

Turkey’s Latest Crackdown Spells Dangerous New Normal for Human Rights Defenders

March 29, 2021
President Biden speaks about the Colorado shootings at the White House.

US Gun Violence: Biden, You Need to Do Something. Now

March 26, 2021
COVID Stimulus Checks: Does Victory Include Abandoning the Most Vulnerable?

COVID Stimulus Checks: Does Victory Include Abandoning the Most Vulnerable?

March 25, 2021
A couple wearing facemasks to prevent the spread of coronavirus watch the sunset from Elysian Park in Los Angeles, California, last month.

Why We Should Expect a Roaring ’20s 2.0 for Our New Normal

March 16, 2021
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post