Epiphany offers an apology to Serbian Church for co-serving with dissenter

Head of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko. Photo: Focus. ua

On June 24, 2019, Epiphany Dumenko, the head of the OCU, sent a letter to Metropolitan Amphilochios (Radovic) of Montenegro and the Littoral of the Serbian Orthodox Church with apologies for having served with the “hierarch” of the unrecognized Montenegrin Orthodox Church “bishop” Boris Bojovic, the site of the Montenegrin Metropolis reported.

“We make it available to the public a part of the letter of the head of the ‘Orthodox Church of Ukraine’, recently founded by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Epiphany, dated June 24, 2019, and addressed at His Eminence Metropolitan Amphilochios of Montenegro and the Littoral of the Serbian Orthodox Church in connection with concelebrating with the false archimandrite Boris Bojovic, who was ordained “bishop” by the so-called Montenegrin Church which is non-existent for universal Orthodoxy,” the website noted.

In the text of the epistle, Epiphany "mourns" over co-serving with "bishop" Boris on his birthday, and "with full understanding assures" that he served with the "cleric" of the so-called Montenegrin "church" "unintentionally".

“Being fully aware, I assure you that this happened unintentionally and only because in the past, before restoring our communion with His Eminence the Ecumenical Patriarch and other Local Churches, we developed relations with the citizens of your country who are unrecognized by the Orthodox plentitude,” explained Epiphany.

He also said that the fault was due to the negligence and a large number of clergymen who participated the service.

“I understand that this event has upset you but I want to convince you that we, being now Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine, have ecclesiastic and canonical dialogue only and exclusively with the Holy Great Church of Christ, our Mother, i.e. the Ecumenical Patriarchate and only with those with whom it has communion and with no one else,” concluded Epiphany and asked him to view this step “as one of the first steps of our young Local Church, as a member of the family of the Holy Divine Autocephalous Churches”.

Earlier, Metropolitan Amphilochios (Radovic), who, according to Epiphany, is “distressed” by his co-service with Bojovic, noted: Phanar’s decision on Ukraine is non-canonical. "Constantinople confirmed and signed this decision of a large Council, and now on the basis of ethnophyletism – Ukrainian sectarian enthophyletism – and on the demands of those formed under the influence of Bolshevism (like Makariy) and Bandera proponents – Ukrainian fascists and former Nazis – it creates the Church. Is this normal? No. Not to mention the fact that Denisenko claimed, being the Ukrainian metropolitan, to have the post of Patriarch of Moscow, but when he was not elected, he declared himself the patriarch. This is his insanity. How can it be normal, without the consent of the Mother Church? And the Mother Church of Ukraine is not the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but for more than 300 years, the Moscow Patriarchate,” said Met. Amphilochios.

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