13:02 21.06.2019

OCU says it doesn't recognize local council meeting with Filaret, says resolutions meaningless

2 min read
OCU says it doesn't recognize local council meeting with Filaret, says resolutions meaningless

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) has said meetings with the participation of the Honorary Patriarch Filaret (Denysenko) can in no way be recognized by the Local Council, and their decisions are useless in legal and canonical terms.

"Such meetings can in no case be recognized by the local Council, and their decisions are initially useless in the legal and canonical meaning of this term, they do not generate legal consequences and are not enforceable," the press service of the OCU's Kyiv Metropolis said.

The statement stated that, under the current statute, such meetings can be convened by Patriarch Filaret only with the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate), and not alone.

As reported, Filaret said on Thursday that the Local Council cancelled the liquidation of the Kyiv Patriarchate: "Firstly, we revoked the liquidation of the Kyiv Patriarchate. On the contrary, we confirmed the existence of the Kyiv Patriarchate, in particular as a legal entity owning property and monasteries, educational institutions that used to belong to it."

Asked how the UOC-KP will be recovering its property, Filaret voiced hope that it would not have to fight to get it back.

"We hope that the bishoprics realize that they belong to a different church and they have to belong to their own independent Ukrainian church. They will decide themselves. We won't pressure them," the patriarch said.

The meeting that Filaret held on Thursday and called the Local Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate cancelled the December 15, 2018 resolution of the Bishops' Council on the liquidation of the UOC-KP.

AD
AD
AD
AD
AD