source – orthochristian.com
Assembly of Canonical Bishops concerned about Ukrainian law targeting canonical Church
New York, September 17, 2024
assemblyofbishops.org
The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, representing all jurisdictions present in America save the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, issued a statement yesterday expressing its concern about the scandalous law recently passed in Ukraine.
In late August, the Ukrainian Parliament passed and President Zelensky signed into law a bill that, as many Ukrainian politicians openly acknowledge, was crafted for the purpose of banning the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church because of its historical connection to the Russian Orthodox Church.
A number of Orthodox and other religious representatives have already condemned the persecutory law.
In its statement, the Assembly of Canonical Bishops expresses hope that the law won’t become a tool of religious persecution:
The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America has followed with grave concern and profound sorrow the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation as well as the ecclesiastical challenges in the country. While recognizing the legitimate right of governments to prevent all security threats during a time of war, the Assembly is deeply concerned with the adoption by the Ukrainian parliament of Bill 8371 (Law 3894).
Ukraine is a religiously pluralistic society. In the interest of religious freedom and the rule of law, we pray the Ukrainian Law 3894 is not used to persecute any religious group within Ukraine, which would threaten the religious liberty of millions of its citizens.
The Assembly of Bishops prays for a peaceful resolution to this invasion that upholds the civil and human rights of all Ukrainians. The Assembly further prays and urgently calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the return of all captives.
A number of Orthodox primates and Synods have raised their voices in defense of the persecuted UOC, including His Holiness Patriarch Porifirije of Serbia, His Beatitude Patriarch John of Antioch, the Holy Synod of the Albanian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch Daniil of Bulgaria, the Jerusalem Patriarchate, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, and the Holy Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric.
In June, before the passing of the bill, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of Washington and All America and Canada, a member of the Assembly of Canonical Bishops, visited His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine and the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church as a sign of fraternal fellowship and support amidst the war and persecution.
It would be interesting & quite pharisaic if GOARCH actually signed this decree too, given that Constantinople has been fueling the fire of persecutions and the hostile takover of the Kiev Lavra Caves with its decision to grant a “tomos” to Epiphanios…
After all, Epiphanios is backing this law, the hostile takeover of the Kiev Caves, the persecutions of Ounoufrios’ churches and clergy, and in the meantime Elpidophoros has no problems concelebrating with Epiphanios…he might as well “send a couple more doves” like the Pope did when he “prayed for peace” in the Ukraine back in 2014…remember what happened to those doves next?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-Hgw0LFK88
When will Patr. Barto will issue a similar statement? It is the very minimum he can.
As a member of the GOArch, I’m disappointed, hurt but especially angry and disgusted with the heretical (and therefore obviously demonic) attitude and behavior of our heretical (definitely not misguided) Patriarch and his co-conspirator Archbishops and Metropolitans, like Elpi.
I apologize but I think anger is an acceptable emotion in a situation as is and while I don’t know what else we can do (I do pray however unworthy), I don’t feel like we are doing enough.
Bart, Elpi and their brood only care about ego, money and power and now that they have access to millions, they don’t care.
I agree that anger against Black Bart is understandable and appropriate here. The only time the Gospels record our Lord showing anger was when they turned the temple into a den of thieves. Sounds like what Black Bart has done to the Fanar.
There is no Orthodox dogma or doctrine that people living outside of Russia need to be somehow connected to the Russian Orthodox Church. As such, it’s not a violation of religious belief for the Ukrainian government to require the UOC to fully separate herself from the Moscow Patriarchate.
Religious freedoms certainly can be restricted if there is a compelling interest to do so, that is to protect the common good and the freedoms of others. That was what the U.S. Supreme Court decided in the 1963 Sherbert v. Verner ruling. Since Ukraine is fighting a war against Russia, it only makes sense for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to fully separate herself from Russia. The U.S. government would require the same of ROCOR if Russia was invading us.
While the UOC under Metropolitan Onuphry has stated that they are now fully independent of the Moscow Patriarchate, does this mean that they are now autocephalous? No, of course not. Nobody, and I mean nobody, recognizes them as autocephalous. Rather, everybody, and I mean everybody, knows that they are still an autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church under Patriarch Kirill. The support shown by the Assembly of Bishops exists only because they recognize the UOC as part of the Moscow Patriarchate.
I remind you that the Ukrainian government did not only demand separation but also for the past 10 years is prosecuting speakers of the Russian language – otherwise half the population including (originally) Zelensky. This is cultural fascism and I am hoping you can agree.
UOC has declared its independence from Moscow. Do you expect her to also seek autocephaly in these wartime conditions? You have to be reasonable if you want us to take you seriously.
Everybody, and I mean everybody, (pun intended) can see that you are ideologically blinded… You can probably argue days on end about “democracy in Ukraine” but you fail to recognize the most obvious forms of fascism.
Joseph, nothing you wrote makes an canonical sense. The sect created by Bartholomew is made up of self-ordained charlatans. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Joseph,
There seems to be some disturbing controversy in your statements…”compelling intrest”? suddenly the US supreme court becomes a global authority over the Church of Russia, and a 1963 ruling in the US seems to have justification and authoritative reach globally, even in Kiev? That’s some of the most troubling propaganda I’ve seen in these comments, ever. Let’s dissect these ideas a bit further:
A) Over the course of 2 world wars where Italy was part of the Axis against the US, did the US Government ever force the Roman Catholic Church to cut ties with the Italian-born Pope, or declare the church “illegal” in the United States by congressional mandate, just because the US was at war with Italy? (However, if you were of Japanese descent, you were in fact put into a concentration camp…)
B) Based on your interpretation of “Orthodox dogma”, Constantinople has no jurisdiction outside of Constantinople. Do you really believe this? When the Byzantine “government territory” was taken over by the Turks, piece by piece (Thessaloniki in 1430 or so), did ecclesiastical authority over occupied Byzantine lands suddenly cease to exist? Likewise, just because Kruschev in the 1960s decided to “carve out” a more autonomous Soviet state called the Ukraine, does that invalidate the non-uniate, Russian Orthodox Church that was already existing for centuries within this “political experiment’s” borders? Is this position aligned with multiple centuries of Church history?
C) Are you perhaps forgetting that the “Ukraine” is not really a homogeneous culture or ethnicity? East of the Dnieper River you find Russian speakers (who historically have identified more with Moscow), and West of the river, you find higher concentrations of Uniate populations of Polish-German descent (DNA). How else do you explain that in 2014 a West-sponsored coup was needed to overthrow a government that was pro-Moscow? That was a democratically elected leader, by a majority that didn’t mind being “pro-Moscow”. Can you argue, for example that the population of Crimea was not in fact 80% pro-Russian?
D) Do you forget the fact that this “Ukrainian government” does not represent the Russian-speaking population properly in their parliament as a result of the conflict? This means that these “Parliamentary” decisions are not actually representatative of the populations or Ounoufry’s jurisdiction, but rather authoritarian. Are you advertising yourself as an authoritarian person?
E) Were you also in favor of the “ban on speaking / using the Russian language” that was officially implemented by these “Ukrainian authorities” prior to the official invasion by Russia? What Supreme Court decision will you invoke to defend that particular decision?
F) Are you in favor of the forceful takeover of the Kiev Caves, too, and the imprisonment of the abbot there? What does international law say about that?
G) Also, do you understand what “ethnophyletism” is, and why it was actually banned / anathematized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the 19th century, only to be ignored by the current Patriarchal regime, which keeps introducing Schism upon Schism to the Church by resurrecting a practice most wisely banned by his predecessors?
H) Are you forgetting that for the first 27 years Bartholomew was signing statements to Moscow affirming that Philaret was a defrocked schismatic (including his followers), and that Moscow had jurisdiction over Kiev on ecclesiastical matters? Why don’t you dig up some of those PDFs? We’ve published them here before, courtesy of Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus who posted them on his website a few years ago..
Unfortunately in this particular instance, you have adopted a most troubling angle of thought that is antithetical to centuries of Church Order and historical ecclesiastical norm.
Markos, the American opinion on religious freedom is relevant, because of U.S. support for Ukraine and also for those Americans who claim that the persecution of the UOC violates their religious freedom. My point is that the UOC is being persecuted only for political reasons, not for religious ones.
Regarding the Pope during WWII, Pope Pius xii took a neutral position, that is, he didn’t support the war. The Vatican also claims to be a neutral sovereign state. I’m sure the U.S. government was keeping tabs though. Contrast this with Patriarch Kirill’s open support for the war in Ukraine, even signing a document that referred to it as a “Holy War”.
Joseph,
You totally ignored the questions & points above. Historically, the Ukraine is not described as a homogeneous nation or ethnicity or religion. Period.
Whether or not Bartholomew elects to create schism (in exchange for money or whatever incentive they offered him) by recognizing a group of Uniates and defrocked clergy is totally irrelevant to the paradigm or propaganda that you are trying to pontificate in here. Your point is dead-wrong. It’s not just political, but cultural and religious as well. Here is why:
1) 50% of the population of the Ukraine was quite happy to be aligned with Moscow, including spiritually and culturally (via spoken language). You can’t impose something different with 2014 coups, illegitimate “tomous”, non-representative “parliamentary votes”, suppression of the Russian language, eviction of monks from the Lavra Caves, and call all that “normal” or “ok”, or even “political”.
2) The main roots of this conflict are 100% religious, because the Vatican has been “eyeballing” hostile takeover of Orthodox territories since the 4th Crusade, and the Vatican’s hostile Uniate activity is at least 400 years old in that Ukrainian region. It was the Uniates that originally caused the “social / religious / cultural divisions” because they “absorbed” large chunks of that original “Ukrainian” population by “masking” as Orthodox while being loyal to the Vatican…wolves in sheepskin….so yes…it’s a pre-existing socio-religious “fabric” that is being leveraged for both religious AND political purposes. The fact that the Vatican is using a convenient “Uniate proxy” (Bartholomew) {who seems to already be open to Union for the wrong reasons (including his statements on common Pascha dates, etc)} to achieve their desire to incrementally increase their influence in Orthodox lands is just a matter of “convenience”. Their vision remains steadfast… to get someone in Constantinople to recognize Papal primacy in the manner that they want…with the state of today’s EP Synod and lack of resistance to Uniate rhetoric and actions, unfortunately it appears that day is approaching rapidly…
By the way, If you haven’t applied for the Vatican Office of Uniate affairs yet, they may actually applaud your points of view, and they may have a career opportunity for you, if you are looking for something these days…you’ve got their rhetoric and propaganda down to a science…
My general position is held by the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Church of Cyprus, the Church of Greece, of course the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and also by many other Orthodox bishops who privately disagree with their synods. It is undeniably a minority opinion that boldly exists within the Orthodox Church.
Yes, seeking autocephaly during wartime conditions makes perfect sense. It was precisely because of the war that started in 2014 that the Ukrainian government sent an official letter in 2016 to Patriarch Bartholomew requesting autocephaly. Patriarch Bartholomew has also stated that it was because of this war that the EP changed their mind about Ukraine.
The only reason today why the UOC is being persecuted in Ukraine is simply because they aren’t seeking autocephaly. That’s really it. Actually, the requirement is even lower than that. All that the Ukrainian government wants is for the UOC to officially say that they are no longer an autonomous part of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Joseph you are an absolute embarrassment. How many of his 30 pieces of silver has Black Bart paid you to be his shill. Those of us who are Greek American are embarrassed to death by him and you willingly carry his water. May the innocent blood of members of the UOC fall on his and your heads. Wait and see. The Turks will soon launch again him 10 times what he has launched against the UOC in Ukraine. I can’t wait to watch it.
Joseph,
“Congratulations” on your “general position”, and thank you for your honesty. You are admitting publicly that you have joined some bishops on the side of this Ukrainian “tomos” schism. It’ll be interesting to find out how that’ll work out for you spiritually over the long-run, but that’s your personal challenge, and not this forum’s.
However, you’ve just stepped on a major “banana peel” with your statements…
What you fail to understand is that ONLY the Synod of Constantinople has FORMALLY APPROVED the tomos issue.
In Alexandria, Cyprus, even Greece, the Archbishops are commemorating Epiphanios, while other bishops refuse to do so, but a formal vote either NEVER really took place, OR the attempted proceedings failed, because of the internal division and backlash from bishops that were against this…you need to understand that the Canons say you only need 3 bishops in times of Schism to continue a legitimate autocephalous Church…Constantinople didn’t have 3 “opposing voices”, so they went ahead, but the others did…Therefore, in those other Churches, alignment with the “tomos” were actually UNILATERAL moves by a subset of Bishops that were “friends of Constantinople”.
That’s exactly why Moscow has officially broken off Communion with only Constantinople’s entire Synod, while for Cyprus, Alexandria, Greece, it maintains two lists for each…one with Metropolitans who commemorate and concelebrate with Epiphanios’s group, and one that doesn’t. We’ve published those websites that indicate those lists here in the past…perhaps you missed them.
Please go ahead read the historical details carefully on your own if you don’t believe me…there’s been plenty of press coverage since 2018 on this topic. In fact, in Greece, the Synod met on this matter, in an attempt to “vote on the Ukrainian tomos”, but there was such an outcry from the bishops, that Ieronymos falsely claimed that he heard “more yelling in favor than against”, and falsely declared that the Synod of Greece had recognized the “tomos”… He proceeded outside, where the “staged media” were waiting for him to read his “prepared statement”, and the journalists tried passing the false message that “the Synod of Greece approved the tomos”, but the truth is HE DIDN”T HAVE THE VOTES, and several metropolitans spoke about this fiasco after that session….dude…wake up!
Fortunately, Moscow realizes that procedurally, formalization of Synodal decisions follow a process, with signatures, etc…and that’s why the Church of Greece (and similarly Alexandria / Cyprus) was not entirely cut from Communion ties, but only from those metropolitans who commemorated/concelebrated with Epiphanios, and with whom you (Joseph) decided to proudly align with…
Again, “congratulations” on your admission of active support of Schism. Absolutely abhorrent and shameful. You eagerly list who you are aligned with (although it’s really a SUBSET of bishops, and not the entire CHURCH OF that you list above). But you DON’t list the other Churches that are against this…Serbia, Albania, Georgia, Antioch…
This is the classic definition of Schism, my friend….and you have taken sides in favor of the Schism that Bartholomew is absolutely responsible for, and seem to be very proud of it at that.
As for the EP changing their mind on the Ukraine “as a result of this war”, you can take that propaganda and try to sell it elsewhere. We’re not that naive, here.
Why don’t you first explain to us what exactly was discussed in Secretary Pompeo’s office when Demetrios was called there after the Federal investigations on the Archdiocese Finances were concluded, (including media leaks of what source accounts “covered” certain gross shortfalls in budget for the 2016 Synod in Kolymbari), a D.C. “meeting” resulting shortly thereafter in the reversal of 27 years of positioning & the “fast-tracking” of the Ukrainian tomos…Why don’t you also explain to us why the media reported that Poroshenko eagerly “donated” a lot of funds to the EP after “legitimizing” Epiphanios… Is that the definition of “Simony”, perhaps, automatically making all those bishops (as well as those who legitimized them) illegitimate according to the Canons?
Follow the money, and you’ll likely have better success at understanding why 27 years of policy were reversed, and why the Biblical Quote “Let your Yes be Yes” doesn’t seem to apply to Patriarchs in Constantinople…
Have you read Fr. Theodore Zisis’ book on the Ukrainian Autocephaly issue, by the way? Maybe you should.
Joseph, I don’t know if you feel you can simply send all this provocative “Tomos” propaganda our way without being called out on it, but as Bugs Bunny used to famously say…”you took a wrong turn at Albuquerque”…. Thanks for your honesty though…now we are clearly aware that you are a proud follower of Epiphanios and his concelebrants. Maybe you will also join them next time they concelebrate with Uniates, too…(in fact many of these “bishops” are already on video kissing the hand of the Pope)…we’ll upgrade the accolades to “double congratulations” for you at that time as well.
There is no such “Macedonian” Church.
Macedonia is Greek always was and always will be.
Please rectify.
Of course – but this proves the treasonous act of Greek politicians who signed the agreement with Skopje without specific guarantees.
The “Green Patriarch” messed this up too about a year ago, indeed with the Greek political establishment’s blessings…but the headlines were generally subdued, and the troubling observation was that the Serbian Church went and concelebrated with the “schismatics of Skopje” on day 1 (some real dirty dealings were going on just a couple years after the Serb “strong-man” Patriarch Eirinaios died)…officially this new “quasi-autonomous entity” is called some kind of “Archbishopate of Ochrid”, but the (Bulgarian DNA) Skopians have their propaganda engine and nobody seems to care about whatever name they call themselves….
I would rather stay home than go to a schismatic church that is not canonical. Also if Barto or Elpi or a schismatic would come to the church I am going, I would leave the church. A schismatic church that is not canonical is not a real church and a schismatic priest or bishop is a pretend make-believe clergy. If they were real clergy they would join the actual canonical churches that are blessed by God.
Joseph,
70% of the population in Ukraine is currently persecuted and don’t want to leave the UOC. What right do you have and what entitles you to oppose them? They did not ask for autocephaly. They want to follow Metropolitan Onuphry. He is Ukrainian and a man of God. Do you feel that the Green Patriarch who can’t put two sentences together without a piece of paper in front of him has a canonical right to give autocephaly to orthodox Christians that did not ask for it and force them to accept them or risk being outlawed? Don’t you think this is an insult on the population of Ukraine to declare that the majority of them are outlaws and Russian traitors if they don’t join the fake bartolomenian ocu ? If this is true, do you think the state of Ukraine will have a chance surviving as a country, since its interests are undermining it because it is comprised of mostly traitors? Stop insulting the Ukrainian orthodox people. They are very pious people. Learn something from them.
Very well stated…
Sandy, the UOC is undeniably under threat of persecution by the law that bans churches from having a connection with the Moscow Patriarchate. However, this Ukrainian law doesn’t restrict any actual dogmas or doctrines of the Orthodox Church. Rather, it only restricts claims of Russian jurisdiction in Ukraine. The UOC only has to officially say that they are not the jurisdiction of Russia, and that they are not an autonomous part of the Moscow Patriarchate. The law isn’t requiring them to join the OCU.
Joseph – the UOC are not “under threat” of prosecution, they are already being prosecuted. I am sure you can follow the news some of which we have published. There is nothing good coming out of closing your eyes to reality – as much of the West has done during this whole war in Ukraine.
So when the Kiev Lavra monastery was confiscated, the abbot brought up on sham charges and imprisoned, and the monks evicted, that doesn’t qualify as persecution in your book?
You really have no conscience, do you…
Joseph,
Are you aware that over 1000 churches were stolen from the UOC? If stealing over 1000 churches and beating and even killing believers and priests is not persecution, how exactly do you define persecution and when exactly does it start for you? They are talking about showing relics in museums, they are destroying and also selling icons, bulldozing churches and so on. Please define persecution because you must have a different idea of what it is compared to the rest of us. The Bolsheviks did exactly the same thing, but you probably think they didn’t persecute Christians either.
Sandy, from the above statement of the Assembly of Bishops: “we pray the Ukrainian Law 3894 is not used to persecute any religious group within Ukraine”. In other words, they believe this law could be used to persecute religious groups. However, the law hasn’t gone into effect yet.
Yes, in my own comment within the above thread I have acknowledged that the UOC is being persecuted, writing that “the UOC is being persecuted only for political reasons, not for religious ones.” The persecution of the UOC only has to do with jurisdiction, which is primarily a geopolitical matter. Yes, everyone still considers the UOC to be the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. This is why they are being persecuted. Their persecution is not for the sake of Orthodox doctrine or dogma, because there is no Orthodox doctrine or dogma that people outside of Russia must still be in the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Joseph the point here is – and I am wondering why you refuse to see it – that UOC is already being prosecuted… we have posted many examples and Sandy mentioned some more… Why do you refuse to accept this reality?
The UOC is being persecuted. I keep writing this over and over again. The new law that the Assembly of Bishops referenced now threatens to persecute the UOC even more, but this new law hasn’t gone into effect yet.
Let me ask you then, why is the UOC being persecuted? Is it because they are Christians? No, it isn’t because they are Christians. They are not being persecuted for any theological reason either.
The UOC still references the 1990 tomos given to them by Patriarch Alexei II as the justification, basis and organization of their church. This tomos makes them an autonomous branch within the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. Yes, Metropolitan Onuphry still commemorates Patriarch Kirill at Divine Liturgy, but that is not why the UOC is being persecuted either; Patriarch Bartholomew does the same. Rather, the persecution that the UOC endures is because they are still considered by everyone as being within the jurisdiction of Russia.
Joseph thus back and forth argumentation with you goes nowhere. If we accept that the state will dictate ecclesiastical issues that are so debated (Bartholomew had recognised and signed Moscow’s ecclesiastical symbolic primacy (because there is no practical jurisdiction over Ukraine) we are going down a very dark road back into Medieval times. Sorry but I have to stop this useless discussion here.
Joseph,
“Yes, everyone still considers the UOC to be the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate”
You really are delusional. Most of these people are Ukrainian. They do not bow to Patriarch Kirill especially since the war started. How can you think so little of the Ukrainian people that are suffering so much? The war devastated the country. They don’t even commemorate Patriarch Kirill since the war started! So how exactly are they under the Moscow Patriarchate if they don’t commemorate the Patriarch of Russia, which means they are not in communion with him? What exactly would they have to do to prove themselves to you?
And I’m sorry but the statement of our American bishops is very timid, since some of them are under Patriarch Bartolomew and they have to issue a statement that won’t get them fired. They are well aware of the persecutions; they just won’t admit it in their statement. I am surprised that you don’t understand what is happening. Either that, or you pretend that the UOC is not persecuted, just like our politicians.