The process of providing autocephaly to the non-canonical Ukrainian Church and the subsequent conflict were imposed from the outside.
The Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The Bishops’ Council emphasises that the process of providing a so-called tomos about autocephaly is artificial, imposed from the outside, does not reflect the internal ecclesiastical necessity, will not bring real church unity and will deepen the division, and will intensify conflicts among the people of Ukraine.
“We consider it impossible for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church episcopate, clergy and laypeople to take part in these processes,’’ the council stated.
Ukrainian believers have repeatedly appealed to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople with a request not to legitimise the heads of non-canonical church structures Filaret, Makariy and their followers, but all appeals were ignored, the council said.
“We are disappointed to state that hundreds of thousands of appeals of the believers of our church to Patriarch Bartholomew with a call not to legitimise the schism under the pretext of creating autocephaly remained unheeded,’ it said.
In addition, the council stressed that Constantinople’s intervention in their affairs was illegal, as well as attempts to solve the Ukrainian church question with the involvement of the government and schismatics, ignoring the voice of the canonical church.
Nevertheless, UOC-MP called on the Patriarchate of Constantinople to join a dialogue with the participation of all local churches with a view to canonically overcomes the schism.
“The Ukrainian Orthodox Church fundamentally adheres to the canonical approach to overcoming church division. The basis of this approach is the need of the penance for those who return from schism.
“The doors of the Church have never been closed to those who want to be in spiritual unity with Christ,’’ the statement says.
The council also asked the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Onufriy, to appeal to all the primates of the local churches with a special message about the crisis situation in the Ukrainian church due to the illegal intervention by Constantinople.
In October, the Synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate said that it would proceed with granting independence to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
The church which is currently split into three major churches the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate, the non-canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP), after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the so-called Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.
On Oct. 8, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to completely “break the Eucharistic communion’’ with the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The Moscow Patriarchate called Constantinople’s decision the “legalisation of schism,’’ saying that it would have catastrophic consequences and would affect millions of Christians in Ukraine and other countries.
In early November, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople signed a cooperation agreement with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in an effort to accelerate the process of granting independence to the non-canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
