Filaret going to challenge anathema laid on him in Phanar

Head of the UOC KP Filaret

The head of the UOC KP Filaret has already appealed to the Patriarch of Constantinople with a request to lift the anathema imposed on him by the Russian Orthodox Church, reports the spokesperson of the Kiev Patriarchate Yevstratiy Zoria on his Facebook page.

"According to the canonical rules, which no one denies, the Patriarch of Constantinople has the rights of the highest appellate instance in litigation, when the issue cannot be solved at the level of the Local Church, and the problem goes beyond the local framework," writes Zoria.

According to the representative of the UOC KP, Filaret has already submitted a canonical appeal to the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Synod, considering "defrocking and anathema" invalid, since the Moscow Patriarchate did not observe the canonical judicial procedure and made the decision arbitrarily.

"Without the rejection of the Moscow anathema, there is no other way on the part of Constantinople to recognize Ukrainian bishops who are outside the MP. And without recognition of the hierarchs and clergy of the UOC KP and the UAOC, there is no point in talking about autocephaly, because Constantinople cannot proclaim it on the basis of the Moscow Patriarchate – because the MP in Ukraine does not want autocephaly in general and from Constantinople in particular," said Zoria.

Earlier, Metropolitan Alexander Vishnevsky (Drabinko) of Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky doubted the canonical nature of anathema to Filaret, calling it "a symbolic curse of all claims of Ukraine to the Kiev heritage".

Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich), who visited Istanbul on June 23 as part of a delegation of the UOC, stated that Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople regards the head of the UOC KP and his organization as schismatics.

In mid-April, Poroshenko turned to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople with a request to grant the Tomos on autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church and announced the creation of the Single Local Church. The Verkhovna Rada supported the appeal of the President.

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