ROC hints at "rich gifts" brought to Phanar for the sake of SLC

The hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk

The hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church recalled that such attempts had already been made in Ukraine many times and as a result ended in nothing. He stressed that the solution of the Ukrainian church problem is possible only by canonical means, reports Interfax-Religion.

"We are one Church, which was born in the Dnieper baptistery of Kiev, and, of course, the Constantinople Patriarchate or any other Church cannot unilaterally proclaim the autocephaly of this or that Church," the agency cites the words of Metropolitan Hilarion.

Vladyka said that the the Russian Orthodox Church heard about the talks between Poroshenko and Patriarch Bartholomew and the "rich gifts" that were brought to Phanar, the district of Istanbul, where the Patriarch's residence is located. "We all know that, and we also know many other things, which I would not like to say now," he said.

"For many years, we have heard a very firm position from the Constantinople Patriarch, who has always said that he recognized His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry as the only head of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. And the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church has no intention of severing relations with the Russian Orthodox Church," Metropolitan Hilarion said.

"The notion of creating of a unified local Church in Ukraine separate from the Russian Orthodox Church is based on the idea that an independent state should have an independent church," Metropolitan Hilarion said. "According to this principle, for example, the Church of Alexandria should be divided into more than 50 parts, because it "embraces the whole of Africa," the Antioch and Jerusalem Churches should be divided into several parts, and so on. Only enemies of the Church stand to gain from such plans and such ideas." 

Vladyka also recalled that the division in Ukraine was caused by the fact that former Kiev Metropolitan Filaret Denisenko, who failed to become the patriarch of Moscow, decided to resolve his personal problem by means of schism, he said.

On April 19, the Verkhovna Rada backed by majority of votes the draft resolution on Supporting the Appeal to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on the creation of a Single Local Church in Ukraine.

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