Russia (bbabo.net), - The non-canonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) imposed "sanctions" on the head of the unrecognized Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP) Filaret, depriving him of the rank of all the bishops appointed by him, such a decision was made by her on Wednesday, February 2 , during the meeting of the synod of the OCU.
- On the basis of earlier decisions taken by the Holy Synod, it was determined that the former primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, His Grace Filaret (Denisenko) is a retired hierarch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, who since June 2019 has been canonically prohibited from exercising the competence of a diocesan hierarch and primate of the church, in particular, it is prohibited to convene and lead meetings to resolve issues of church administration, it is forbidden to perform ordination to any holy order," TASS quotes a message posted on the OCU website.
Thus, the OCU outlawed Filaret's supporters, who supported him in a conflict with the head of the OCU, Epiphanius, deprived them of their dignity and threatened them with a church court. The schismatics, who were seeking Tomos from Constantinople, began to quarrel almost immediately after receiving it.
Recall that at the request of Constantinople, a decision was made to liquidate the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate. Metropolitan Epiphany was elected head of the new church (OCU), and Filaret became the honorary patriarch of the OCU. However, later Filaret came into conflict with the OCU, and in June 2019 he convened a council of the already liquidated UOC-KP, at which it was announced that the decision to terminate its activities was cancelled. The UOC-KP stated that Filaret remains its head. The OCU did not agree with this, calling the local council of the UOC-KP non-statutory, having no "canonical and legal consequences."
The Russian Orthodox Church and the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church do not recognize the canonical status of the OCU, considering both the tomos of autocephaly and the unification council in Kiev "canonically void." Their position: the actions of Patriarch Bartholomew led to a split in world Orthodoxy.
bbabo.Net