UOC bishop: Local Churches are in danger due to "special powers" of Phanar

Bishop Sylvester (Stoychev) of Belogorodka. Photo: kdais.kiev.ua

The rector of the Kyiv Theological Schools, Bishop Sylvester (Stoychev) of Belgorodka said in a detailed interview with the Journal of the Serbian Patriarchate that if the Local Churches did not respond to the non-canonical intervention of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the church life of Ukraine, any of them could be in the place of the UOC down the road, the official website of the Serbian Orthodox Church reports.

The hierarch of the UOC believes that the future of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will show what can happen to World Orthodoxy, since in Ukraine Patriarch Bartholomew and his adepts decide on far more global things. “With the help of a local issue, global problems are solved. This global task is the Phanar's attempt to build such a church structure in which the Phanar would assume all powers, rights, diaspora management, the right to receive an appeal or whatever,” said Bishop Sylvester.

He noted that those who agree to accept the legality of the Phanar's actions in relation to Ukraine should understand that in five to ten years this can happen in relation to other Local Orthodox Churches. “Therefore, every person belonging to one or another Local Orthodox Church must ask himself a question and honestly answer it: what will happen next with World Orthodoxy if the Local Churches recognize the legality of the actions of Patriarch Bartholomew? If you answer this question directly and honestly, then everyone will understand what danger the Orthodox Church is facing. I believe that the only way to resist the actions of Phanar is to make a declaration by the Local Churches of their position,” summed up the rector of the Kyiv Theological Schools.

As the UOJ reported, the hierarch of the UOC said to the Journal of the Serbian Church that the actions of Phanar in Ukraine are not canonical.

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