UOC Spokesman: Cypriot hierarchs are outraged by the act of their Primate

Primate of the Church of Cyprus, Archbishop Chrysostomos. Photo: izborsk.md

The hierarchs and ordinary clergy of the Cypriot Orthodox Church are outraged by the act of their primate, who arbitrarily made a liturgical mention of Epiphany Dumenko during the Divine Liturgy, and Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus may face “big problems in his Church”. This is how Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the UOC, commented on the message of the Greek media that the head of the Cyprus Church for the first time made a liturgical mention of the head of the Ukrainian schismatics.

“The Greek church media reported that today Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus commemorated the head of the Ukrainian schismatics Epiphany at the Liturgy,” the UOC spokesman wrote in his Telegram channel. “He did it arbitrarily, without the consent of the Synod of the Cyprus Church. He might have wanted to please Phanar, yet he will obviously face big problems in his Church."

He stressed that the Cypriot hierarchs and ordinary clergy are extremely outraged.

“Apparently, one has to expect tough statements from the Cypriot hierarchs,” he added. “It may even go so far that the local clergy will not concelebrate with their Archbishop until he changes his position. After all, the Orthodox Church is governed in a conciliar manner, not individually."

According to the clergyman, the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church does not need to worry too much about the fact that the head of the Ukrainian schismatics is commemorated by Archbishop Chrysostomos, since “this is not a problem of the UOC.”

“Now this is a problem of Archbishop Chrysostomos personally. Each Local Church that gets messed up in this story with the OCU stirs up troubles both inside and outside the Church," the UOC spokesman specified.

The deputy head of the UOC DECR does not exclude that Phanar pushed the Cypriot Archbishop “as the weakest among the Primates” to this step precisely after the recent statements by the head of the UOC-KP Filaret about the futility of the OCU’s future.

“They want to show there is some future there. Maybe, but it is scandalous and remote from the Church. This is not the right way to do for the Church,” Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich emphasized.

As the UOJ reported, on October 24, 2020, the Primate of the Cypriot Orthodox Church, Archbishop Chrysostomos II, for the first time commemorated the name of the head of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko during the divine service.

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