“Ukraine is the ancient territory of the Patriarchate of Constantinople; there is no place here for adherents of Rome!
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“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.
“The Metropolitan insisted that Moscow’s approval was not required for the establishment or recognition of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
“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
“This is the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. It has always been an Orthodox shrine, and it remains one. There can be no politics in such things. And no ‘Russian World,’
“Do not appropriate the history of our Ukrainian Church, from which we emerged, and do not tell us which territories are canonical.
“According to Metropolitan Epifaniy, the Tomos granted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate provides the canonical foundation for the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, irrespective of whether Moscow accepts it.
““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.