Phanar Exarch: The law on renaming the Church will normalize the situation

Archbishop Daniel of Pamphylia and President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko

The law on renaming the Churches whose centre is located in the aggressor country is a catalyst for the normalization of the religious situation in Ukraine, Archbishop Daniel of Pamphylia, the Exarch of the Constantinople Patriarchate to Kiev, said in an interview with the BBC.

At the same time, the hierarch does not have the slightest doubt that the law on renaming Churches refers exclusively to the UOC, he interprets even the text as the law “on changing the name of the Church”, not as the law “on changing the name of Churches”.

“It seems to me that the law on changing the name of the Church, whose centre is located in the aggressor country, doesn’t and won’t force anyone to anything,” emphasized the Phanar Exarch. “The UOC, which is in the bosom of the Russian Orthodox Church, simply has to decide what it is: really the Ukrainian Orthodox Church or the Russian Orthodox Church on the territory of Ukraine? As for me, this law is simply the way that will be the catalyst for the normalization of the situation.”

According to Archbishop Daniel, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine is a hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.

"For world Orthodoxy, Metropolitan of Kiev is Epiphany," said the representative of the Constantinople Patriarchate.

He also noted that his patriarchy is involved in Ukrainian religious conflict solely for altruistic reasons.

“Yes, we need sustenance, but this is not the main thing,” Archbishop Daniel of Pamphylia assured.

We recall that even secular experts have repeatedly expressed confidence that the law on renaming religious organizations is aimed at redrawing property rights. For example, the director of the Information and Political Centre "Perspective" Pavel Rudiakov called the adopted bill No. 5309 "a cover for the intention to grab Ukrainian lavras."

Also, primates of the Local Orthodox Churches did not congratulate Epiphany Dumenko on his election as head of the OCU, which would be equal to recognizing him as “Metropolitan of Kiev”. On the contrary, the Primate of the Polish Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland, stressed that Dumenko is a man of the world. “This young secular man suffered great harm when he was appointed metropolitan. In the light of canon law, he is not a priest. He is not ordained in the canonical Church, ”explained the Primate of the Polish Church.

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