Phanar defers consideration of the issue of Ukrainian Church’s autocephaly

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople

The date of the Synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate, which is to consider the issue of granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church, was postponed to June.

"This is probably due to the fact that the Patriarch (Bartholomew – Ed.) is not feeling very well, but, probably, due to the complexities that arose in the process," said Liudmila Filipovich, Head of the Department of Philosophy and History of Religion at the NASU Institute of Philosophy.

According to her, there are contradictions within the Church on the "Ukrainian issue". "We understand perfectly well that there are those who will never support the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church," Filipovich said on Channel 5.

President Petro Poroshenko appealed to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople with a request to grant autocephaly to the so-called Single Local Church. His proposal was supported by the Verkhovna Rada, and then various politicians and officials joined the campaign for the SLC.

Earlier, Constantinople has repeatedly stressed that the only canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine is the UOC.

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