UOC Chancellor Explains When Autocephaly Can Harm the Church

Metropolitan Antony. Photo: Met. Antony's Facebook

KYIV — The Chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), Metropolitan Antony of Boryspil and Brovary, published a material where he described when the pursuit of autocephaly can harm the unity of the Church and the Orthodox consciousness of the people.

He pointed out that autocephaly, in its correct understanding, can be a useful tool for pastoral service to a specific people. However, when it becomes an end in itself, it can harm the unity of the Church, UOJ-Ukraine (SPZh) reports.

"The unity of the Body of Christ is the unchanging doctrine of the Orthodox Church. Autocephaly, however, is just one, not the only form of church governance. It does not guarantee either holiness or spiritual development."

Autocephaly can be harmful if it:

• arises under political pressure rather than in the spirit of church conciliarity;
• destroys Eucharistic unity with other local Churches;
• is based on nationalism, opposing one people to another.

"If the pursuit of autocephaly leads to opposing oneself to other Churches, to the loss of communion in faith and Sacraments, then this is not development but schism," the bishop emphasizes.

When autocephaly becomes an ideology of national exclusivity or a political tool, it ceases to be a church blessing.

According to the Metropolitan, if autocephaly becomes a tool of politics, it can erode Orthodox consciousness, replacing it with ethnophyletism or church nationalism.

“If the people begin to think, ‘Our main task, our goal is to create our own personal, independent church,’ this will not preserve but destroy Orthodox consciousness. For Orthodox consciousness is the awareness of being a member of the conciliar Body of Christ, not merely of a national community,” notes the Chancellor.

The text highlights three main dangers of the wrong pursuit of autocephaly.

Firstly, the self-proclamation of autocephaly becomes a cause of isolation from unity with the Hierarchical Church and other local Churches. History knows cases when local communities, due to political decisions, ended up in schism for decades without recognition by other Churches (for example, the Bulgarian Exarchate in the 19th century, the Macedonian Church in the 20th century).

Secondly, autocephaly proclaimed without free discussion and a true conciliar decision in the spirit of Christ's love becomes a cause of divisions within one people. The most terrible thing in such a situation is the loss of Eucharistic communion.

"If part of the Orthodox faithful cannot partake in communion with others, then not only an administrative but also a spiritual rupture arises. And outside the Eucharist, there is no salvation, for the Eucharist is the very heart of the Church's life," Met. Antony states.

Thirdly, there is the danger of replacing spirituality with nationalism. When the people begin to think, “We are a special nation and a special church, different from the others,” this signifies the substitution of spirituality with worldly categories.

"When the Orthodox consciousness of the people is replaced by national ideology, the sense of conciliarity disappears and faith becomes part of political identity. And this always leads to spiritual death," concludes the chancellor of the UOC.

Previously, UOJ reported that Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church has sent a detailed public letter to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, urging him to revoke the Tomos of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) and to end persecution of the canonical Church.

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