10-11-2018, 10:38 PM
*** 12-Oct-18 World View -- Constantinople grants Ukrainian Orthodox Church independence, causing historic split with Russia
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Constantinople grants Ukrainian Orthodox Church independence, causing historic split with Russia
****
![[Image: g181011b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g181011b.jpg)
The Pechersk Lavra church in Kiev must now change its allegiance from Moscow to Kiev. There are fears that this struggle will lead to violence. (Sputnik)
Orthodox Christian Patriarch Bartholomew I, leader of the
Constantinople Patriarchate and "first among equals" leader of all
Orthodox Christian churches and of the world's 300 million Orthodox
Christians, announced on Thursday that he will be issuing a "Tomos of
autocephaly" (charter of independence) to the Orthodox Christian
Church of Ukraine in Kiev.
Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko quickly hailed the decision.
"This is a victory of good over evil, light over darkness," he said,
adding that Ukraine has been waiting for this "historic event" for
more than 330 years.
The "330 years" refers to another part of the Bartholomew's
announcement:
<QUOTE>"4) To revoke the legal binding of the Synodal Letter
of the year 1686, issued for the circumstances of that time, which
granted the right through oikonomia to the Patriarch of Moscow to
ordain the Metropolitan of Kyiv, elected by the Clergy-Laity
Assembly of his eparchy, who would commemorate the Ecumenical
Patriarch as the First hierarch at any celebration, proclaiming
and affirming his canonical dependence to the Mother Church of
Constantinople."<END QUOTE>
In granting independence to Ukraine's church, Bartholomew it taking
control of Ukraine's church from the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).
This has infuriated the Russians, and is a political and financial
disaster for the ROC and for Russia's Patriarch Kirill, since about a
third of the parishes controlled by Kirill are in Ukraine.
In anticipation of Thursday's announcement, the ROC last month broke
all relations with the Constantinople. ( "16-Sep-18 World View -- Russian Orthodox Church in historic split with Constantinople over Ukraine issue"
)
Thursday's announcement is the culmination of decades of tension
between the Ukraine and Russian churches since the time of the Soviet
collapse in 1991. The ROC took control of the Ukrainian church, which
was headed by Ukrainian Patriarch Filaret Denisenko, an ardent
proponent of independence from the ROC. The ROC excommunicated
Filaret, who formed his own unrecognized Ukrainian Orthodox Church,
which is now the second largest in Ukraine.
Thursday's announced by Bartholomew also reverses the excommunication
of Filaret:
<QUOTE>"3) To accept and review the petitions of appeal of
Filaret Denisenko, Makariy Maletych and their followers, who found
themselves in schism not for dogmatic reasons, in accordance with
the canonical prerogatives of the Patriarch of Constantinople to
receive such petitions by hierarchs and other clergy from all of
the Autocephalous Churches. Thus, the above-mentioned have been
canonically reinstated to their hierarchical or priestly rank, and
their faithful have been restored to communion with the
Church."<END QUOTE>
It is now considered likely that Filaret will be chosen to lead the
new Ukraine Orthodox Church.
The Constantinople Patriarchate and the Moscow Patriarchate are two of
several dozen Orthodox Patriarchates in the world, but they're the two
most influential. The city of Constantinople was renamed Istanbul
when it was conquered by the Ottoman Muslims in 1453, bringing an end
to the Byzantine Empire. The offices of the Constantinople
Patriarchate are located in today's Istanbul.
According to Ukrainian media, a scholarly study of the history of the
ROC reveals that it never received a "Tomos of autocephaly," and
therefore may itself not be a legitimate church. Constaninople Patriarchate and AFP and Russian Today and Unian (Ukraine)
****
**** Russia says that Constantinople's decision is 'catastrophic'
****
There are thousands of churches in Ukraine that have pledged
allegiance to the Moscow Patriarchate, and who will now be under
pressure to pledge allegiance to the new Ukrainian Church.
Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church,
calls the decision "catastrophic," and says, "Of course, people will
take to streets and protect their sacred sites." Hilarion in the past
has warned,
<QUOTE>"If the schismatics begin to seize the laurels,
thousands of people will gather, they will defend these
monasteries, blood will be shed, ... If, God forbid, there will be
a legitimization of the split, it is difficult even to imagine
what consequences this can lead to. This would mean a split,
similar to the split of 1054."<END QUOTE>
This alludes to the historic, bloody split between the Catholic
Church, led by Rome, and the Eastern Othodox Church, led by
Constantinople, in 1054. In 1204, in a new Crusade, the Catholic army
sacked sacked Constantinople, starving and murdering its citizens, and
plundered the Orthodox Church's treasures accumulated over the
centuries, capping the deed by placing a prostitute on the Emperor's
throne at the church of St. Sophia, at that time the most beautiful
church in Christendom. It was not until the year 2001, after facing
large anti-Catholic protests in Athens, that Pope John Paul apologized
to the Greeks for the incident, and made a plea for forgiveness.
So Hilarion's warning that Constantinople's Ukraine decision is
similar to the split of 1054 illustrates how furious the Russians are
that this decision was made. It's expected that Kiev and Moscow are
going to be fighting for control of every one of the churches affected
by the decision, but whether those fights lead to violence between the
parishioners remains to be seen.
Another consequence might be Russian violence against the Churches in
Russian-occupied Crimea. Russia may attack these churches in
retaliation for Kiev's attempts to control the churches in mainland
Ukraine. AFP and Tass (Moscow)
and Unian (Kiev) and Washington Post
Related Articles:
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Russia, Ukraine, Constantinople,
Russian Orthodox Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church,
Patriarch Bartholomew I, Patriarch Kirill,
Pechersk Lavra, Petro Poroshenko,
Filaret Denisenko, Hilarion Alfeyev, Crimea
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Constantinople grants Ukrainian Orthodox Church independence, causing historic split with Russia
- Russia says that Constantinople's decision is 'catastrophic'
****
**** Constantinople grants Ukrainian Orthodox Church independence, causing historic split with Russia
****
The Pechersk Lavra church in Kiev must now change its allegiance from Moscow to Kiev. There are fears that this struggle will lead to violence. (Sputnik)
Orthodox Christian Patriarch Bartholomew I, leader of the
Constantinople Patriarchate and "first among equals" leader of all
Orthodox Christian churches and of the world's 300 million Orthodox
Christians, announced on Thursday that he will be issuing a "Tomos of
autocephaly" (charter of independence) to the Orthodox Christian
Church of Ukraine in Kiev.
Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko quickly hailed the decision.
"This is a victory of good over evil, light over darkness," he said,
adding that Ukraine has been waiting for this "historic event" for
more than 330 years.
The "330 years" refers to another part of the Bartholomew's
announcement:
<QUOTE>"4) To revoke the legal binding of the Synodal Letter
of the year 1686, issued for the circumstances of that time, which
granted the right through oikonomia to the Patriarch of Moscow to
ordain the Metropolitan of Kyiv, elected by the Clergy-Laity
Assembly of his eparchy, who would commemorate the Ecumenical
Patriarch as the First hierarch at any celebration, proclaiming
and affirming his canonical dependence to the Mother Church of
Constantinople."<END QUOTE>
In granting independence to Ukraine's church, Bartholomew it taking
control of Ukraine's church from the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).
This has infuriated the Russians, and is a political and financial
disaster for the ROC and for Russia's Patriarch Kirill, since about a
third of the parishes controlled by Kirill are in Ukraine.
In anticipation of Thursday's announcement, the ROC last month broke
all relations with the Constantinople. ( "16-Sep-18 World View -- Russian Orthodox Church in historic split with Constantinople over Ukraine issue"
)
Thursday's announcement is the culmination of decades of tension
between the Ukraine and Russian churches since the time of the Soviet
collapse in 1991. The ROC took control of the Ukrainian church, which
was headed by Ukrainian Patriarch Filaret Denisenko, an ardent
proponent of independence from the ROC. The ROC excommunicated
Filaret, who formed his own unrecognized Ukrainian Orthodox Church,
which is now the second largest in Ukraine.
Thursday's announced by Bartholomew also reverses the excommunication
of Filaret:
<QUOTE>"3) To accept and review the petitions of appeal of
Filaret Denisenko, Makariy Maletych and their followers, who found
themselves in schism not for dogmatic reasons, in accordance with
the canonical prerogatives of the Patriarch of Constantinople to
receive such petitions by hierarchs and other clergy from all of
the Autocephalous Churches. Thus, the above-mentioned have been
canonically reinstated to their hierarchical or priestly rank, and
their faithful have been restored to communion with the
Church."<END QUOTE>
It is now considered likely that Filaret will be chosen to lead the
new Ukraine Orthodox Church.
The Constantinople Patriarchate and the Moscow Patriarchate are two of
several dozen Orthodox Patriarchates in the world, but they're the two
most influential. The city of Constantinople was renamed Istanbul
when it was conquered by the Ottoman Muslims in 1453, bringing an end
to the Byzantine Empire. The offices of the Constantinople
Patriarchate are located in today's Istanbul.
According to Ukrainian media, a scholarly study of the history of the
ROC reveals that it never received a "Tomos of autocephaly," and
therefore may itself not be a legitimate church. Constaninople Patriarchate and AFP and Russian Today and Unian (Ukraine)
****
**** Russia says that Constantinople's decision is 'catastrophic'
****
There are thousands of churches in Ukraine that have pledged
allegiance to the Moscow Patriarchate, and who will now be under
pressure to pledge allegiance to the new Ukrainian Church.
Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church,
calls the decision "catastrophic," and says, "Of course, people will
take to streets and protect their sacred sites." Hilarion in the past
has warned,
<QUOTE>"If the schismatics begin to seize the laurels,
thousands of people will gather, they will defend these
monasteries, blood will be shed, ... If, God forbid, there will be
a legitimization of the split, it is difficult even to imagine
what consequences this can lead to. This would mean a split,
similar to the split of 1054."<END QUOTE>
This alludes to the historic, bloody split between the Catholic
Church, led by Rome, and the Eastern Othodox Church, led by
Constantinople, in 1054. In 1204, in a new Crusade, the Catholic army
sacked sacked Constantinople, starving and murdering its citizens, and
plundered the Orthodox Church's treasures accumulated over the
centuries, capping the deed by placing a prostitute on the Emperor's
throne at the church of St. Sophia, at that time the most beautiful
church in Christendom. It was not until the year 2001, after facing
large anti-Catholic protests in Athens, that Pope John Paul apologized
to the Greeks for the incident, and made a plea for forgiveness.
So Hilarion's warning that Constantinople's Ukraine decision is
similar to the split of 1054 illustrates how furious the Russians are
that this decision was made. It's expected that Kiev and Moscow are
going to be fighting for control of every one of the churches affected
by the decision, but whether those fights lead to violence between the
parishioners remains to be seen.
Another consequence might be Russian violence against the Churches in
Russian-occupied Crimea. Russia may attack these churches in
retaliation for Kiev's attempts to control the churches in mainland
Ukraine. AFP and Tass (Moscow)
and Unian (Kiev) and Washington Post
Related Articles:
- Russian Orthodox Church in historic split with Constantinople over Ukraine issue (16-Sep-2018)
- Russia's annexation of Crimea splits the Russian Orthodox Church (20-Mar-2014)
- Russian Duma goes after Protestant churches as 'sects and cults' (14-Dec-2015)
- Historic Orthodox Christian gathering in Crete exposes sharp divisions (20-Jun-2016)
- Pope John Paul apologizes for 1204 sacking of Constantinople (13-Jul-2004)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Russia, Ukraine, Constantinople,
Russian Orthodox Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church,
Patriarch Bartholomew I, Patriarch Kirill,
Pechersk Lavra, Petro Poroshenko,
Filaret Denisenko, Hilarion Alfeyev, Crimea
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
