Photo: doctorantura.ru
At the schismatics in Ukraine now there is a single Chapter, but combine them with the canonical Church failed, stated the Chairman of the Department for external Church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, speaking about results of held in Kyiv on December 15 the “unification Council.”
He recalled that for those who departed into schism, there is one way to reunite with the canonical Church through repentance. But such reunification was not in the plans of the Ukrainian authorities, which was important to break the connection of the Ukrainian Church from the Moscow Patriarchate, reports the Synodal Department for Church relations with society and the media.
“Actually no real dependence on Moscow no, because the only thing there is a link between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Moscow Patriarchate, something that the Liturgy commemorated the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, — said Metropolitan Hilarion. — Moscow does not interfere in the Affairs of the Ukrainian Church, not its ruler. The Ukrainian Church is not accountable to the Patriarch of Moscow — all decisions are made independently”.
At the same time, he noted, the so-called autocephaly, which Constantinople is going to give established as a result of the “unification Council” structure, “provides far less rights than those rights that are enjoyed by the self-governing Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.”