International Orthodox Christian News

"The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is now conducting its saving service in difficult historic conditions. At the same time, it is the Church that has the necessary potential to unite the divided Ukrainian Orthodoxy and consolidate the Ukrainian society," states the address posted at the official site of the Ukrainian Church. Metropolitan Vladimir specifically stated that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in performing this mission "needs to have a unified position of all local Orthodox Churches on the way to overcome the church schism in the Ukraine."

"We hope that the synodic intelligence of the Universal Church enlightened by the Holy Spirit will show the way to restore the church union instructed by God (in Ukraine, IF)," the address reads. In July 2006, the primates and representatives of local Churches and hierarchs of the Canonic Ukrainian Church addressed the authorities of Ukraine to express their concern about "the stretching and unhealthy interdenominational situation" which prevails in the country within the last fifteen years.

"Not only separate political figures, people's deputies, but also whole political parties, deputy groups and blocks occupy different positions which definitely affect the Ukraine, and its international image, as international religious organizations widely inform the world community about the schism and aggressive actions of its followers in relation to the canonic Orthodoxy," the document said. In this case the self-proclaimed Patriarchate of Kiev was referred to in the address as a "pseudo-church structure". "The world Orthodoxy has no so called Patriarchate of Kiev, and nobody recognizes its primate, Patriarch Philaret (Denisenko Mikhail Antonovich) as hierarch," the address said.

Finally, the authors of the document appealed to the President, Government and people's deputies of the Ukraine for "regulating the Church matter in the legal context."

Source;

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