The head of the “new church” of Ukraine (PCU) “metropolitan” Epiphanius Dumenko during the liturgy on the occasion of the anniversary of the creation of the “church” said that the Patriarch of Bartholomew of Constantinople would visit Ukraine in the near future, the Channel 5 website reports.
“Ecumenical Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch, will visit Ukraine in the near future,” the report said.
Epiphanius also said that “several more churches will join” the “new church” in 2020.
In Kiev, in December 2018, the “new church” of Ukraine was formed, this happened as a result of the merger of two non-canonical church structures operating in the country. The head of the new “autocephalous church” was the “Metropolitan” Epiphanius Dumenko. The canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, led by Metropolitan Onufry, refused to participate in this event. The Russian Orthodox Church called the canonical meaning of the “meeting” in Kiev insignificant, and the possibility of recognizing Epiphanius by other local churches as hardly a feasible task.