Kyiv Patriarchate as a tool to destabilize Orthodoxy

If Michael A. Denisenko in his student years had been predicted by the theory of probability on his activities in old age, he might not have believed that. The fact that a student, later a monk and the dean of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, a zealous servant and follower of the canonical Church would initiate church schism in Ukraine could have hardly been foreseen.

After all, he once said, "The Orthodox Church cannot change its canonical rules and the centuries-old structure, as they say, to meet the needs of the day. Then it is wrongly blamed for rigidness, "centralism". (1)

The fact that the organisation "Kyiv Patriarchate" poses a threat to the whole Orthodox community is not a fiction. There is every reason to say that Filaret is an interested party in creating tension in the family of the Orthodox Churches, which constitute a single body of Christ.

In the programme "Conversations with Patriarch" on Channel 5 of July 3 this year, Michael Denisenko, summing up the results of the Crete Council, which neither he nor the representatives of the KP attended and could not attend, said, "The conditions after the Council (in Crete –the Editor's note) are in favour of the Kyiv Patriarchate. Why? World Orthodoxy must recognize the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as autocephalous. If it does not recognise, Moscow can organise a family of Slavic Churches. And then World Orthodoxy will be divided into Slavic Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Churches. It is dangerous. So to prevent it, the Ecumenical Patriarch should recognise (attention!) the Kyiv Patriarchate as the Ukrainian Church." A bold statement, isn’t it? After all, just imagine: the organization with a religious connotation, but identified by the Church of Christ as schismatic, wants to dictate the rules of interfaith relations between the Local Sisters – Churches.

In fact, it turns out a very interesting thing. The matter is that the representatives of the Kyiv Patriarchate "concelebrate" with similar structures, i.e. schismatics.

Not so long ago, "Metropolitan" Dimitriy Rudiuk of the Kyiv Patriarchate with the delegation visited the now former Sts. Cyril and Methodius Monastery in the Polish town of Ujkowice. Of course, the official KP media reported that as a concelebration with the Orthodox brethren of the Polish Orthodox Church and disseminated the news in their outreach activities.

However, it is worth noting that the monastery was disbanded back in 2015 for a number of canonically-disciplinary violations, including concelebration with the schismatic Kyiv Patriarchate. Therefore, according to the decision of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Poland of March 17, 2015: "For the destructive activities of Archimandrite Nicodemus (Makar), Abbot of the Monastery of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Ujkowice, the unauthorized violation of the liturgical norms of the Orthodox Church; entry into prayer and liturgical communion with an uncanonical “Church”; slander of the hierarchy and clergy; failure to implement the decrees of the ruling hierarch; educating the monastery brethren in the same spirit, which led to some of them leaving the monastery”, the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Nicodemus (Makar) and his deputy, Igumen Athanasius (Debovsky) have been temporarily suspended. The monastery brethren have a right to be transferred to other monasteries of the Polish Orthodox Church. Should the above-mentioned clergymen repent, the monastery may be reopened," – the monastery in Ujkowice drew the appropriate sentence.

In this context, it is also worth considering another bright figure of the Kyiv Patriarchate – Michael Zinkevich. This odious "hierarch" has also recently made a "prayerful visit to Moldova". The representative of the structure of Moldova refers to himself as Filaret, Bishop of Falesh and Eastern Moldova. Again, there is a dilemma: nobody considers this hierarch a legitimate canonical bishop, and his nominal unit as part of the Kyiv Patriarchate is recognised as schismatic.

That is, there is a definite pattern – the Kyiv Patriarchate maintains contacts with the schismatic and prohibited in the ministry representatives like themselves.

In fact, the story of Filaret and his religious structure confirms it. After all, it was he who in 1996 supported the schism in Bulgaria, which proclaimed "Patriarch" schismatic Metropolitan Pimen.

Next was Montenegro, where Filaret supported defrocked in the Constantinople Patriarchate Miras Dedeic, who voluntarily declared himself "Metropolitan of Montenegro". Apparently, Michael Denisenko is continuing to follow his course – to support dissenters just like himself.

In this context, strange look the words said by "Patriarch" Filaret on October 23 at the celebration of his so-called 21-th "patriarchal" enthronement: "We are accused of seizing churches by force. It is not true. They spread the same lies about us when they say that we are schismatics. It is not we but they are schismatics."

These words, more than ever, show the essence of this religious structure. After all, instead searching ways for understanding and reduce the degree of tension in the religious environment, representatives of the Kyiv Patriarchate further continue along their defamatory line. So isn’t this a threat to the canonical structure of the Holy Church?

1. Orthodox Bulletin, May 1990, №5.

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