PARIS, FRANCE – His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel of France in an interview with The National Herald discusses the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s decision to grant Autocephalous status to the Church of Ukraine.
Metropolitan Emmanuel is among the Patriarchate’s leading hierarchs and one of His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew’s closest colleagues.
He provides up-to-date information on the situation and refutes the Moscow Patriarchate’s objections to the Phanar’s intervention in this matter, and has visited all of the Orthodox Churches around the world to apprise them accordingly.
He told TNH that “the Ecumenical Patriarchate, by resolution of the Holy and Sacred Synod of April 20, under His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, decided to grant Autocephaly to the Orthodox people of Ukraine. As you can see, this ongoing procedure possesses distinct phases.
“The visit to the Primates of the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches has already taken place, and the two Exarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate have been sent and taken up their responsibilities in Kiev. The Exarchs designated are His Excellency Archbishop of Daniel of Pamphilon, of the Ukrainian Church of the United States, and His Grace Bishop Hilarion of Edmonton, of the Ukrainian Church of Canada. The Exarchs are authorized to act in accordance with the directions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to implement decisions in order to comprehensively prepare for the granting of the Tome of Autocephaly.”
He described the ecclesiastical situation in Ukraine: “there are: a) the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Patriarchate of Moscow, b) the so-called Patriarchate of Kiev and c) the Autocephalous Ukrainian Church. Unfortunately, the schism that occurred twenty-seven years ago continues to exist, and thus the division of the Orthodox persists.
“For this very reason, and in order to treat the schism and unity of the Orthodox, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as the Mother Church of the Ukrainian People, gladly responded to the numerous petitions of presidents, civil authorities, and the people of this country, with the decision to finally grant the much-desired Autocephaly. And let us not forget that similar requests for ‘complete canonical independence,’ namely the Autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, had already been addressed by the Bishops of Ukraine to the late Patriarch of Moscow, Alexis II, in November of 1991.”
Regarding Moscow’s objections to the Phanar’s intervention, Emmanuel emphasized that “the Ecumenical Patriarchate is not only the First Throne of Orthodoxy, but it also has the essential role of safeguarding the unity of the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches, as well as the coordinating inter-Orthodox issues. The Ecumenical Patriarchate did not assume this role of itself; it is from the Ecumenical Councils. Consequently, the Church of Constantinople is not shaken by self-styled threats intended to offend unity and challenge its established role.
“Whoever threatens to break Eucharistic Communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate is threatening himself to be cut off from the trunk of the tree of the Orthodox Church. For this reason, we consider that such threats stem from a lack of knowledge of Canonical Jurisprudence. The Ecumenical Patriarchate serves and safeguards the unity of the Orthodox in the spirit of sacrificial ministry, not absolutism. Let us not forget that the main priority of the Holy and Great Synod was the proclamation of the unity of the Orthodox Church. ‘Grounded in the Divine Eucharist and the Apostolic Succession of Bishops, the existing unity needs to be strengthened and bring new fruits’ (Message of the Holy and Great Synod).
“The concern of the Church of Constantinople has always been and remains the healing of schisms, not their creation. As Paul, the Apostles to the Nations, writes in the First Letter to Corinthians: I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no schisms among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. (1:10)”
In pointing out that the Moscow Patriarchate is objecting to an “intervention” in its ecclesiastical zone of jurisdiction – at the very moment that Patriarch Kirill is himself unable visit Ukraine, Emmanuel noted that the Patriarchate, “from the time of the Christianization of Kievan Rus, never ceased to have the care of the Church of Kiev. The relevant facts surrounding the Patriarchal Tome of then Ecumenical Patriarch Jeremias II, which elevated the Church of Russia to the status of a Patriarchate in 1589, are well known. With the conquest of “Little Russia” (Ukraine), Moscow also wanted to subjugate, uncanonically, the Kiev Metropolis.
“By the Act of Ecumenical Patriarch Dionysios IV in 1686, only the permission of ordination of the legally elected Metropolitan of Kiev was granted to the patriarch of Moscow, with the provision that the Metropolitan would commemorate the canonical name of the ecumenical patriarch (as the Metropolitan was his Exarch), and then the name of Patriarch of Moscow. This uncanonical action by the Patriarchate of Moscow to annex the Metropolis of Kiev is also clearly mentioned in the Tome of Autocephaly of the Church of Poland (1924). It is obvious, therefore, that there is no intervention by the Ecumenical Patriarchate into foreign territory.
“Especially today, with the prevailing political situation in Ukraine, following the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, there are parishes belonging to the Patriarchate of Moscow in which the Patriarch of Moscow himself is not commemorated.”
Regarding his takeaways from his interactions with the other Orthodox Churches, Emmanuel said that there is included an assignment of a three-member Commission of Hierarchs to visit the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches, in order to provide updates on the positions and initiatives of the Mother Church concerning the Ukrainian question. The only concern of the Ecumenical Patriarchate was and is a solution to the chronic ecclesiastical problem in Ukraine. Our communication with Their Beatitudes the Primates has been substantive and fruitful.
“The Ukrainian question is a thorny issue that concerns the whole Orthodox world and everyone is seeking a peaceful solution. The Ecumenical Patriarchate, with the wisdom and discretion that distinguishes it, will proceed, with God’s help, consonant with Pan-Orthodox criteria, in the granting of Autocephaly. This is the exclusive privilege of the Ecumenical Throne and is independently witnessed by the signing of all the Tomes of Autocephaly for the new Patriarchates and Churches, including the Patriarchate of Moscow. The granting of Autocephaly is not a threat hurled by the Mother Church, but a response to the legitimate request of a local Church, as long as canonical reasons and administrative needs are being met. The Mother Church of Constantinople is the sole authority to judge and proceed, with sobriety and determination, for the issuance of Tomes of Autocephaly.”
The post Metropolitan Emmanuel of France on Ukraine’s Autocephaly appeared first on The National Herald.