The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UPTS) announced this Friday (27) its break with the Patriarchate of Moscow due to its open support for the Russian “special military operation” in Ukraine – as the Kremlin and its supporters call the invasion of the former republic. soviet.
“We express our disagreement with the position of the Patriarch of Moscow, Cyril, on the war in Ukraine,” reads the statement posted on the UPTS website.
For this reason, the UPTS Council took the decision to declare “the full autonomy and independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church”.
“The council appeals to the Ukrainian and Russian authorities to continue the negotiation process and the search for a strong and sensible word that can stop the bloodshed,” he adds.
Cyril, who has a close relationship with the Kremlin, urged the Russians in his homilies to rally with the Kremlin and the Russian army in their holy war against the “Antichrist”, that is, the Ukrainian government and its Western supporters.
Many of the Ukrainian dioceses that still depend on the Moscow Patriarchate failed to mention Cyril in their sermons in a clear sign of disgust.
The Russian patriarch was the one who promoted the idea of the “Russian World”, that is, wherever Russian is spoken and the faith is Orthodox, regardless of internationally recognized borders, is the area of influence of Moscow, whose messianic mission is to defend the Russians. and its traditional values.
The UPTS also reached out to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (PTSU), created in 2018 by Kyiv, after receiving support from the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Moscow’s enemy, in calling for dialogue to restore the unity of the Ukrainian Orthodox, renouncing the transfer. forced from parishes to PTSU.
In this way, the Patriarchate of Moscow loses one of its main territories, Ukraine, where the majority of the faithful are Orthodox, although there are also several million Catholics belonging to the Uniate Church.
The close dependence of the Russian Orthodox Church on the dictates of the Kremlin gradually alienated the Ukrainian Orthodox from the Moscow Patriarchate.
“The patriarch personally made the decision to be one of the ideologues of the political system created by Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has become one of their main allies to the point of justifying the war in Ukraine,” theologian Sergei Chapnin, who worked for the Patriarchate of Moscow for 15 years, recently told EFE.
The European Union is considering imposing sanctions on Cyril. According to a document from the European External Action Service to which Politico had access this month, the justification would be that the patriarch has been “one of the most prominent supporters of Russian military aggression against Ukraine”. This measure would need to be approved by member states.
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