Cyprus hierarch: Abolition by Phanar of 1686 Patriarchal Letter is invalid

Metropolitan Nikiforos of Kykkos. Photo: romfea.gr

Metropolitan Nikiforos of Kykkos and Tylliria of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus believes that the abolition of the Patriarchal Letter of 1686 and the assignment of the jurisdictional right to the ecclesiastical territory of Ukraine by the Patriarchate of Constantinople is invalid, the website of the UOC DECR reports.

In the conclusions from the book of Metropolitan Nikiforos, recently published under the title " Modern Ukrainian Issue and Its Solution in Accordance with Divine and Sacred Canons", it is stated that the abolition of the Patriarchal Letter of 1686 is "one-sided, unauthorized, anti-canonical, and, accordingly, invalid" action of Phanar.

Metropolitan Nikiforos emphasizes that “the ecclesiastical consciousness of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Russian Church, as well as the pan-Orthodox universal consciousness (that is, of all Local Orthodox Autocephalous Churches) have always accepted without doubt and hesitation the fact that the Orthodox Church in Ukraine for the last 332 years (1686 - 2018) has been under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Orthodox Moscow Patriarchate and considered its canonical territory."

The hierarch of the Cypriot Church reminds that "this pan-Orthodox ecclesiastical consciousness has been constantly manifested, without objections and reservations, through pan-Orthodox concelebrations, during secular visits, as well as at international conferences and a lot of other events."

The book "Modern Ukrainian Issue and Its Solution in Accordance with Divine and Sacred Canons" is devoted to the study and analysis of historical facts and canonical documents on the "Ukrainian church issue", which has caused the crisis in World Orthodoxy today in view of the recent actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Ukraine. The book consists of 233 pages, of which the text of the research itself occupies 191 pages.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the hierarch of Cyprus published a book on the solution of the Ukrainian issue according to the canons of the Church.

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