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OCU Declares Filaret Schism Has Ended
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine has declared its years-long dispute with Filaret resolved, though it offered few details about how the reconciliation was achieved.
KYIV — As reported by UOJ-Ukraine, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) says the internal schism involving "honorary Patriarch" Filaret Denisenko has come to an end, according to a statement adopted by its Bishops’ Council on July 15 and signed by Epiphany Dumenko.
Meeting at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the OCU council declared that they had "succeeded in overcoming the crisis that arose in 2019." The statement also claimed that this had been achieved "despite frantic attempts by pro-Russian forces and other opponents of OCU unity to obstruct reconciliation" between Dumenko and Filaret.
The statement, however, does not identify the alleged pro-Russian forces or other opponents that it says sought to block the reconciliation. It also provides no details about what practical steps were taken to resolve the seven-year dispute or what the reconciliation itself entailed.
Instead, the bishops pointed to this year's celebration of the Baptism of Rus' at Kyiv's St. Volodymyr's Cathedral as evidence of the restored unity. They noted that the feast was celebrated there for the first time since the schism began, highlighting the cathedral's significance as the church where Filaret served throughout much of his ecclesiastical career.
The split began in 2019 after Filaret rejected the structure of the newly established OCU and sought to revive the so-called Kyiv Patriarchate, leading to years of public disagreement between him and the OCU's leadership.
Previously, the UOJ published a column on the tragedy of Filaret Denisenko.
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