Ukrainian Orthodox Church

By Evangelos Venizelos*

In the wake of the Russian attack and the war in Ukraine, the arguments heard in 2018-2019 regarding the granting of autocephaly [independence from the Moscow Patriarchate] to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine came to the surface once more, mainly due to a speech by Vladimir Putin.

A bill banning the Russian Orthodox Church has been submitted to Ukraine's parliament, the country's media reported.

A senior Russian-backed bishop in Ukraine will lead a prayer walk in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica, on Saturday, joining protests led by the Serbian Orthodox Church against a recently-adopted law on religious freedom.

The Ukrainian Church is independent of the religious administration of Moscow.
In a statement after the meeting in the Moscow Patriarchate, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church stated that it could not, from now on, mention the name of Patriarch Theodore II in his prayers and participate in common prayers.

Moscow Patriarchate spokesman Vladimir Legoyda has warned that the Russian Orthodox Church will cut off links with any Greek hierarch who commemorates the Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kiev, including Archbishop Ieronymos.

"We are told that our transition into the jurisdiction of Constantinople will not change anything in the life of our parishes. But all this is a lie," - Ukrainian Orthodox Christian believer Olga Samulyak explained to the Canadian Ukrainian Religious Information Bulletin. 

The autonomy status granted to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by Istanbul's Fener Greek Orthodox Church has caused a dispute between Fener and Moscow Orthodox Patriarchate.

Ukraine chose the head of a new national Orthodox church on Dec. 15, marking an historic split from Russia which its leaders see as vital to the country's security and independence.

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios on Thursday criticized as "unacceptable" a decision by the Russian Orthodox Church to sever eucharistic communication with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate told Sputnik that it does not take part in the efforts of Kiev's authorities and non-canonical Orthodox organizations to establish a single independent church in the country or the so-called Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, according to Sputnik.