Jerusalem responds to OCU’s call to deprive Patriarch Kirill of his title

On August 4, 2022, Archbishop Theodosios of Sebastia (Patriarchate of Jerusalem) issued a personal statement, in which he commented on the letter of Epifaniy Dumenko to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, sent on July 27. The Bishop's statement was published on the website of the DECR of the Moscow Patriarchate. In this letter, Dumenko asked to condemn the actions of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus and deprive him of his title as patriarch.

Archbishop Theodosios urged not to pay attention to "the attacks of Epifaniy and his supporters, which are a problem themselves, but by no means its solution."

Vladyka noted that the solution to the crisis can only be achieved through dialogue, the search for ways to mutual understanding, to rapprochement and maintaining contacts with His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus. “None of the ways to resolve the issue implies bypassing the Russian Church,” he noted.

According to Archbishop Theodosios, those who try to ignore the Russian Church and dare attack the Church and Patriarch Kirill do not want a resolution to the conflict, but support an agenda hostile to our Church, which involves divisions and strife as indispensable.

Vladyka recalled that it was Epifaniy and his proponents who caused the church schism and the cessation of Eucharistic communion with several Local Orthodox Churches. “The schismatic Epifaniy does not have the authority to become an initiator of resolving the church crisis,” the hierarch of the Jerusalem Church emphasized.

“We pin all our hope to the Lord, Who established the Church in this world for the sake of human salvation. May the Ukrainian church schism be healed and Eucharistic communion between all Orthodox Churches be resumed,” the Hierarch of the Jerusalem Church concluded his message.

As the UOJ wrote, Dumenko wrote a letter to the head of the Phanar, in which he called for depriving the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church of his title as patriarch.

Read also