Abp. Theodosius of Boyarka: There will be more than one schism in OCU

The vicar of the Kiev Metropolis the UOC, Archbishop Theodosius of Boyarka

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church warned the Patriarch of Constantinople: What is not built on peace, repentance and return to the Church, what is not built on deep understanding will end in a new schism. The vicar of the Kiev Metropolis the UOC, Archbishop Theodosius of Boyarka said this in an interview on the "112 Ukraine" TV channel.

“Judging by the fact that only a few high-ranking officials of the Kiev Patriarchate came to St. Vladimir’s Cathedral, the split is unlikely to be large-scale,” noted Bishop Theodosius. “If Filaret wants to isolate himself, his structure will be marginal compared to the OCU. But in 1992, Filaret left our Church in exactly the same way and organized the Kiev Patriarchate. But now he does not have such state support.”

The archbishop called the split in the OCU logical and predictable, suggesting that the separation of Filaret is not the last schismatic step within this structure "and more than one schism will shake it".

“The very creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine initially by Filaret and his entourage, by all those people who spiritually originate from the current leader of the UOC KP and the co-leader of the OCU Filaret. <...> The Ukrainian Orthodox Church spoke about this, representatives of the episcopate warned Patriarch Bartholomew and other representatives of Constantinople about this when they were just going to legalize the schism in Ukraine because what is not built on peace, repentance and return to the Church, what is not built on deep understanding, will end in a new schism. Something similar is happening in the OCU,” explained the vicar of the Kiev Metropolis of the UOC.

As reported earlier, the head of the OCU Epiphany has announced the meeting of the “Synod” in connection with the conflict that broke out in the newly established church structure.

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