West Destroying The Orthodox Church As An Obstacle To Its Expansion

by ORIENTAL REVIEW • February 25, 2019

Ukrainian president and tomos 

The events surrounding the Orthodox Church in Ukraine that escalated at the end of last year and the beginning of this one have clearly shown the true intentions not just of those involved in the split, but of their supporters as well. President Poroshenko has demonstrated that the decision to create an autocephalous church is necessary for his election campaign. The actions of Patriarch Bartholomew I have shown that he is using the situation to advance his own interests, first and foremost to seize new canonical territories. And, by siding with the schismatics, Washington has shown that it is pursuing its long-held goal of destroying the Orthodox Church throughout the world.

The church issue has been essential for improving Poroshenko's ratings on the eve of the presidential election. The Ukrainian president’s extremely low popularity among the people was proving a serious threat to his plans to be re-elected for a second term. The loss of his authority and immunity would not only put him at risk but his whole business empire, which has seen incredible growth during his time in office. So, for him, winning the presidential election is a matter of life and death. Every effort is being made to achieve this, including the spectacular move of promoting his image as the founder of the national church.

Poroshenko is having to risk everything, however. There is no guarantee that efforts to create a unified local autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine will increase his popularity among the Ukrainian people and ensure election victory, and they could even risk the independence of the church itself. Hence he was initially prepared to use formal aspects of the procedure for obtaining a tomos – a decree on autocephaly. In an effort to hide the blatant violations and unattainability of his stated goals from the voters, however, the Ukrainian president hurriedly made a big show of announcing the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) before the process had been completed. Particular importance was given to his appearances in public holding a scroll (the tomos).

Yet it is important to stress that no autocephaly has actually been granted. There are a number of indications that the newly established OCU is not a local church. First, bishops will be appointed in Istanbul, whereas the status of a local church should grant such powers to Kiev. Second, the canonisation of saints will also take place in Istanbul, although a local church has the right to do this itself. Third, the chrism – a special oil used in religious services and a sacred element of the Orthodox church – will be produced in Istanbul too.

Attention should also be paid to the appointment of 39-year-old Metropolitan Epiphany, who has had a meteoric career under the false patriarch Filaret, as head of the OCU. Filaret couldn't head the new church himself, but has maintained his position and influence within its structure. Nothing like it has ever been seen before in the history of the Church. It is possible for an official leader to be subordinate to an unofficial one in political parties, but not the Church. That is why there isn’t a single Orthodox church rushing to recognise what has happened in Kiev.

Local Orthodox churches have also reacted negatively because there are many other issues to raise with Patriarch Bartholomew I besides the split in Ukraine. He has repeatedly violated church canons over the past few years, including serving Catholics and blessing the bigamy of priests, which has been unacceptable since ancient times.

It seems that the head of the Constantinople Patriarchate does not regard either ancient canons or rules of law as immutable. Rather, he is seeking to establish his own rules by increasingly laying claim to the status of an "Eastern Pope", a status that neither belongs to him nor theoretically exists. The events surroundings the Ukrainian church seemed to have pushed him towards actively expanding the influence of Phanar. The decision to grant the tomos to the OCU was not the only managerial move of its kind. It was preceded by the legally insignificant revocation of the 1686 tomos on the separation of the Kiev Metropolis from the Constantinople Orthodox Church and its accession to the Moscow Patriarchate. After that, Patriarch Bartholomew I revoked the tomos that he had granted to the Exarchate of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe in 1999. A total of three tomoi virtually simultaneously.

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We need a split of Orthodoxy and the breakdown of Russia, and Ukraine, where betrayal is the norm of public morality, will help us in this - Brzezinski