The first step toward unity of the Churches in Ukraine “must be the unification of the Orthodox Churches, because they have no dogmatic difference,” the Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav maintains.
“We
pray for that,” he said in an interview with the Internet publication
Tsenzor.net. “When one Orthodox Church
[in Ukraine] is created, the next step must be the unification of the Orthodox
and Catholic sides.”
According
to remarks by Pope Francis, who recently visited Istanbul and met with Patriarch
Bartholomew, the path to unification consists not in the subordination or
absorption of one Church by another, His Beatitude noted. Church unity consists of intercommunion [soprychastia]—Eucharistic fellowship and
the possibility of celebrating the Divine Liturgy together.
“Our
position differs from the position of the Orthodox Church (Moscow
Patriarchate),” the Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
emphasized. “They maintain that one
local Orthodox Church already exists in Ukraine, and that they are it. To their way of thinking, the path to
unification consists of subjecting everyone who is outside of their
structure. Just like in the well-known
expression: ‘There are two opinions, one is mine and the other is wrong.’ If the Moscow Patriarchate sticks to that
practical approach much longer, then the chances of honestly creating one
Church will be quite illusory, and the path to unification will be almost
impossible.”
However,
His Beatitude Sviatoslav said, if “any country exploits the Church as an
instrument of geopolitics, that Church will suffer and will lose its essence
and its mission.”
“Sooner
or later,” the Head of the UGCC thinks, “such a geopolitical plan will turn into
a fiasco. We in Ukraine today have a unique opportunity, as never before in our
history, for the Churches to be Churches and not to get involved in politics or
in carrying out the plans of various countries.”
Information Resource UGCC
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment