25.03.2009, [12:18] // Inter-Christian relations //
KYIV
— The Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyivan Patriarchate released an
official statement denying accusations of putting pressure on the
Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church to join its branch of orthodoxy
in the Ternopil region.
“Decisions to join the Kyivan
Patriarchate are taken by [the UAOC]
entirely voluntarily and without any pressure on the part of our
church,” stressed the document in reference to the recent admittance of
several UAOC parishes into the UOC-KP in Ternopil. RISU’s
Ukrainian-language site posted this story on 24 March 2009.
The press release also noted that “the
UOC-KP and the UAOC have
repeatedly voiced their aspirations to unify in the past, but each
time, UAOC representatives conjured up unrealistic requirements that
curbed the unification process.” At the same time, the release stated
the UOC-KP’s readiness to unify into one church, despite the resistance
of the UAOC episcopate, on the grounds that it “cannot reject such
initiative from UAOC clergy and parishes.”
In addition, the statement points out
that according to Ukrainian law,
clergy and believers can themselves define their affiliation to a
specific church: “No prior notification of authorities or statement of
withdrawal of a specific church from its governing bodies is
stipulated.”
Further, the document rehashes the
decisions of the Local Council
of 1993, according to which parishes referred to as UAOC in statutory
documents have the right to retain their name.
Finally, the text includes an address
of the UOC-KP hierarchy,
calling the head and bishops of the UAOC to a dialogue as a
stepping-stone to unification in one local Orthodox Ukrainian Church.
Source: RISU (Religious
Information Service Ukraine)
http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/news/article;28092/