Archbishop Jonathan: SLC is an attempt to overthrow His Beatitude Onufry
Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchin and Bratslav commented on the statements of politicians about the establishment of the SLC.
Vladyka Jonathan believes that the initiatives of politicians and ministers mean the early onset of a "soft" (or not always soft) abolition of the historical "monopolistic" existence of the canonical UOC in Ukraine. Thу archbishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church wrote this on his official page.
"To make this crafty plan work cleanly, it is necessary to have a proper legal cover from the Patriarch of Constantinople, who lives in Phanar, in the Turkish city of Istanbul (in church diplomatic correspondence – in Constantinople), the capital of the former Byzantine Christian Oecumene (i.e., the World)," explains Metropolitan Jonathan. "This gives origin, by the way, to the title of Patriarch of Constantinople – "Ecumenical", that is "Imperial"…... Today, a small Phanar reminds arrivals that once the greatest Eastern Christian Second Rome Oecumene narrowed to the limits of the Patriarchal residence. (In Turkey, there are two or three thousand Greek parishioners – citizens of the Republic of Turkey). True, there are still scattered Greeks living in the United States, Europe, Australia, where the parishes of the Patriarchate of Constantinople regularly give generous donations for the maintenance of the historic Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul. These donations are a strong thread, an umbilical cord that connects Phanar with the North American continent."
Vladyka explains that Ukrainian politicians were attracted by the US model, where Catholics living there have their own religious centre abroad – in the Vatican, and the Orthodox – in the countries of their ethnical origin – in Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Poland, Romania or Constantinople.
"This defective from the point of view of canons, in the slang of deputies "multi-party", jurisdictional American mosaic, like a paradise apple for Eva, probably enticed Ukrainian officials of different ranks, who care about the "right" spiritual upbringing and confessional "equality" of Ukrainian citizens," says the hierarch of the UOC. "They zealously projected this imperfect Orthodox American confessional model to Ukraine, in accordance with the laws of the oligarchic market, to destroy the spiritual "monopoly" of the canonical UOC, recognized by the World Orthodox Community as the only legitimate Church of Christ in Ukraine from the very beginning of its formation by the Moscow Patriarchate."
The Metropolitan stressed that all earthly Local Orthodox Churches are one and only whole, that their autocephalous Local Family is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
The bishop raises questions: "Let us assume that Phanar for some complicated political or materialistic reasons, after many centuries, will "abolish" the transfer by Constantinople of his then-Kiev Metropolitanate to the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Kingdom, and on this basis will declare Ukraine its canonical territory, and then organize (out of defectors banned from service) some "New Kiev Metropolitanate", but as part of the Constantinople Patriarchate, and subsequently elect "the new Metropolitan of Kiev and all Ukraine" (again, in its canonical submission!), then what will be the consequences of these acts? Will the unity of the Orthodox declared by the current Ukrainian political elite be achieved?"
Answering the question posted, the Metropolitan of Tulchin and Bratslav states that there will be no unity and explains why: "First of all, because the clergy, monks and believers of the UOC will take these acts of the Constantinople Patriarch as an attempt to dethrone the living Primate of the UOC, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine! Near him there will be a double with the same title – "Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine", but with a spiritual centre in Phanar, Turkey! For the age-old mentality of Orthodox Ukrainians, the formation of the UOC clone – the "canonical New Kiev Metropolitanate" will not be a good return of the Church of Constantinople to Ukraine, but a disguised temptation to leave the UOC, to betray their Spiritual Father – His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry!"
