Filaret: Tomos is revenge on Moscow for non-participation in Crete Council
Pat. Bartholomew delayed granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church for a long time for unknown reasons; 20 years later, he suddenly decided to do so, Filaret said.
Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople gave Ukraine the Tomos to take revenge on Moscow for its non-participation in the Crete Council in 2016, said the head of the liquidated UOC-KP, Filaret Denisenko, in an interview with the ZIK TV channel on 20 June 2016.
Filaret emphasized that he had been seeking autocephaly for the Ukrainian Church for 20 years.
"At first, from the Moscow side – Moscow did not react," he said. “Then we appealed to the Ecumenical Patriarch because the Kyiv Metropolis was once part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. For a long time, we had been seeking this, from the very beginning of Ukraine's independence. But the Ecumenical Patriarch made different demands – the President should turn, then the Verkhovna Rada or unite first. He kept delaying.
But then the head of Constantinople Patriarchate suddenly decided to grant the Tomos to Ukraine, and "many do not understand why after 20 years he finally decided to give it", Filaret said.
"To take revenge on Moscow. For what? For not coming to the All Orthodox Council held in Crete in 2016. So: you did not come to the Council, we will give the Ukrainian Church autocephaly," explained the head of the UOC-KP, stressing that "the whole Ukraine rejoiced because the Orthodox Church was waiting for this”.
As reported earlier, on June 18, Petro Poroshenko said that a case had been opened against him because of the Tomos.
