“All these events remind us to some extent of our own time, in which the zealous followers of the Russian Patriarchate act in the same way as the opponents of the Apostle Paul,” he said. “They accuse us, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, because we did not receive recognition from them or according to rules they invented. They interpret our humility and patience towards the continued existence in Ukraine of a jurisdiction subordinate to Moscow, as well as our calls for dialogue and ecclesiastical peace, as supposed evidence of our weakness and their own correctness.
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““The fact that, instead of imposing strict demands upon the followers of Russian Pharisaism in Ukraine, we demonstrate humility and call them to fraternal dialogue, mutual understanding and unity—rather than judging them according to the canons, as the Patriarchate of Alexandria has done with similar Russian ecclesiastical usurpers in Africa—does not mean that we lack the right to act in this way,” he said. “Our conciliatory approach must not be interpreted by anyone as supposed evidence that we do not possess this right or that we ourselves harbour doubts about it.
““Even if, somewhere far away, some do not regard us as a Local Church—just as some did not regard Paul as an apostle—for Ukraine we are the Local Church,” he said. “We recognise the unique and particular responsibility for Ukraine that follows from this. Therefore, like the Apostle Paul, we shall strive to do what is most beneficial for the Orthodox community of Ukraine. We shall continue firmly to expose the false teaching of the ‘Russian World,’ and we believe that, through our common efforts and with God’s help, we shall succeed.”
“They accuse us, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, of not being from them and not having received recognition according to the rules invented by them
“Instead of strict demands toward the followers of Russian Pharisaism in Ukraine, we show humility, calling them to brotherly dialogue, to understanding and unity, rather than passing judgment on them in accordance with the canons
“zealous followers of the Russian Patriarchate act in the same way as the opponents of the Apostle Paul did
“Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine issued strong criticism of the Patriarchate of Moscow, accusing its supporters of challenging the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, interpreting its calls for dialogue as weakness and promoting the ideology of the “Russian World.”
“He argued that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine had chosen dialogue and reconciliation rather than stricter canonical measures.
“the patience, confession of faith, and faithfulness to Christ of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will serve as an important example for strengthening future generations of Orthodox believers