The decision of representatives of the Hellenic Orthodox Church to support the Kiev dissenters from the religious formation “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” turns into a big scandal.
Earlier, under the pressure of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the EOC has demonstratively recognized the Ukrainian noncanonical church. It happened back in October last year. Then, during an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Bishops in Athens, the hierarchs of Hellenic Orthodox Church ratified the decision of the Synod.
However, as it turned out later, the procedure did not follow the church canons at all. In this regard, the Greek non-governmental organization “Panellin Orthodox Union” will appeal to the State Council of Grace, which serves as the Supreme Court, with the demand to cancel the recognition of dissenters.
The fact is that the representatives of the Church of Greece did not take into account Greek laws, in particular Article 19 of Resolution No. 1/1977. Thus, the scandalous decision of the Church of Greece was adopted in circumvention of democratic norms, that is, without a vote and, accordingly, without the support of this idea by the necessary majority. Moreover, the written decision has not been published so far either. Thus, if the Greek State Council finds the decision of the bishops illegal, the legitimization of the Kiev dissenters could be undermined.
It should be noted that the very formation of the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” was held with flagrant violation of the canons, and to the detriment of the generally recognized Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. In particular, the dissenters were granted privileges that allowed “absorbing” the canonical church.
The decision of Constantinople actually cancelled the decree of 1686, when Patriarch Dionysius agreed to transfer the Kiev Metropolitanate to the canonical jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. And although the decision in Constantinople has been repeatedly criticized, the 1686 volume has never been officially questioned.
Here it is important to understand that the key criterion of canonicality for Orthodoxy is not the procedure for making a decision, but the reception of changes already made. The famous canonist Metropolitan Nicodemus explained this as follows: “The rights of diocesan bishops in their areas were mainly based on custom, and then on prescription”. From this we can conclude that attempts to revise the decisions of the 17th century have no justification except for purely political.
Against the background of international confrontation, splinter formations that appeared in Ukraine in the last century became an effective tool in geopolitical wars. The non-canonical “OCU” is nothing more than an element of the anti-Russian campaign, and they do not even try to hide the connection of dissenters with Western political elites.
For example, the head of the State Department of Ukraine Michael Pompeo during his visit to Kiev held a meeting with the head of the “OCU” Epiphanius. This only underscores the fact that the Orthodox schism is a matter of US interests.