The two most influential Orthodox Churches - one in number, the other in reputation - the Russian Orthodox Church (RPC) and the Ecumenical Patriarchate are today in a deep conflict that shakes the entire Orthodox world. The most painful and complex situation exists in Ukraine.
Two church structures operate in that country today: Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UPC), which canonically (was) related to RPC, and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (PCU), formed after Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople issued a tomos on autocephaly in 2018.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the UPC has distanced itself from Moscow. Relations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate were severed back in 2018, and that decision was confirmed in 2022. At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities are applying, to put it mildly, restrictive and discriminatory measures towards the UPC - its temples are being taken away, and regular church life is seriously hampered.
The question arises: how to get out of such a position? Is there a solution to this deep ecclesiastical and social tension? Within the UPC itself, there are different views of possible exits. In an exclusive interview for the new issue of "Vremena", which is on newsstands from Thursday, February 12, UPC Archbishop Sylvester (Stoychev), rector of the Kyiv Spiritual Academy, talks about those nuances, which are often not visible from the outside.
Relationship with PCU
Relations between UPC and PCU are, he says, very complex today.
"There is no official dialogue between us. In some cases there is informal communication. The main problem that burdens our relations is violence on a religious basis. From the moment the PCU was founded, and especially after the beginning of the full scale of Russian military aggression, we witnessed numerous cases of violent takeover of the temples of our Churches, in which PCU representatives directly participated", says UPC Archbishop Silvester.
As he adds, the leadership of the PCU did not give an appropriate assessment of these events, nor did any priest of the PCU who directly participated in the violence bear canonical sanctions.
"All of this puts a serious strain on our relations and makes official dialogue virtually impossible."
No contact with Moscow and Constantinople
On the other hand, UPC today has no contact with the Moscow Patriarchate, nor with the Church of Constantinople.
"Personally, I think that this is a very dangerous situation, because we are threatened with gradual self-isolation. This must not be allowed under any circumstances. That is why I have already said publicly several times that our Church could very well start a church-diplomatic dialogue with the Church of Constantinople, so that we could at least learn to hear and understand each other, and begin the search for a way out of this impasse. I believe that the church's attitude towards complex church-canonical issues consists in seeking a way out of divisions, and not in deepening and cementing them.”
Is there a solution?
In relations with the Moscow Patriarchate, he says, the "point of no return" has already been passed, and there can be no question of the UPC returning under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.
"Today, our Church exists as a completely independent one. We independently open dioceses and ordain bishops, we independently administer the Holy Myrrh, we open parishes abroad, where millions of Ukrainians have found themselves today. We already have the experience of independently solving all issues of internal church life. It is only necessary that other local Churches recognize this independence," says the archbishop.
As he adds, it is clear that there is a serious problem, since the Church of Constantinople, as well as several other local Churches, believe that there is already an autocephalous Church in Ukraine - PCU.
"But precisely because of this, in order to find a sustainable form of existence of Orthodoxy in Ukraine in the future, it is necessary to start a calm and open discussion on this issue with other local Churches. The longer we all together refuse such a discussion, the more complex the solution of this problem will be in the future."
Read the entire text in the new issue of "Vremena", which is on newsstands from Thursday, February 12, or subscribe now to digitally or printed edition.
