KDAiS rector: The UOC severed ties with the Phanar not because of Moscow

Rector of KDAiS Archbishop Sylvester. Photo: pravlife.org

Rector of the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary, Archbishop Sylvester (Stoychev), explained the reason for harsh criticism directed at the Patriarchate of Constantinople during the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Feofania on May 27, 2022. The article was published by the Synodal Information Department of the UOC.

"The Ukrainian Orthodox Church suspended Eucharistic communion with the Patriarchate of Constantinople not because the UOC follows Moscow in this regard (as our opponents claim), but because it is a way to show how much we disagree with the actions committed by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in relation to the UOC. Obviously, Eucharistic communion implies agreement in everything and spiritual peace. Without these conditions, it cannot be fully actualized," Archbishop Sylvester wrote.

He reiterated that the UOC had always opposed the scenario of overcoming church divisions in Ukraine by granting autocephaly to the OCU, which was implemented by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 2018-2019. The Council in Feofania acknowledged and addressed the fact of unresolved theological and canonical issues.

As the UOJ reported, Archbishop Sylvester of Bilohorodka previously stated that the UOC is an independent Church, but this does not mean that it is in schism.

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