Panorthodox Synod : ORTHODOX DELEGATION TO VISIT ROME FOR FEAST OF STS. PETER AND PAUL

Panorthodox Synod : ORTHODOX DELEGATION TO VISIT ROME FOR FEAST OF STS...: Following a long-standing tradition, a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is in Rome this week to help b...

Bulletin:Ukrainian Church Council Date Set as Metropolitan Emmanuel Sent to Oversee Preparations

Informed sources report a number of new developments in the process of forming the new autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church.Firstly,on 15 November 2018,His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel of France will arrive in Ukraine to oversee final preparations for the Uninfying Council that will organise the new Church and elect its first Primate.The new Primate will not be titled "Patriarch."Nor will Metropolitan Filaret,formerly Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kiev Patriarchate,or Metropolitan Makariy,formerly head of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church,be on the ballot.At the Ecumenical Patriarchate's request,they have written letters withdrawing themselves from the process.Indeed,they will not even attend the Unifying Council,in order to prevent divisions from forming around them.
Speculation on the first Primate of the new Church centers on Archbishop Job (Getcha) of Telmessos and Archbishop Daniel of Pamphilon (Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA).Both are hierarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.Archbishop Daniel was born in Ukraine;while Archbishop Job was born in Montreal,Canada of Ukrainian descent.*
The Unifying Council will be tightly managed.By the time it begins,the texts of both the Charter of the new Church and the Tomos of Autocephaly will have been completed.Furthermore,while the new Church will be independent,the Ecumenical Patriarchate must approve at least the first Primate.In addition,the Government of Ukraine must convey twenty farmsteads claimed by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.*
Analysis:If these initial reports are borne out,the new Ukrainian Orthodox Church will be a very disciplined body from its inception.The Ecumenical Patriarchate is being firm and cautious in its approach,as indeed it has been from the beginning of the autocephaly process.It fosters humility as the surest pathway to success.

Pope Francis Welcomes Ecumenical Patriarchate Delegation to the Vatican

On 27 June 2017,a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate was received in a private audience by His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican.They came to Rome bearing greetings for the Pope on the occasion of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul,the Thronal Feast of the Church of Rome.The delegation consisted of His Eminence Archbishop Job of Telmessos;Very Rev. Ambrosios Chorozidis,Grand Sykellos of the Ecumenical Patriarchate;and Very Rev. Archimandrite Agathangelos Siskos,Librarian of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.Also attending from the Vatican were His Eminence Kurt Cardinal Koch,President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity;His Excellency Bishop Brian Farrell,Secretary of the Pontifical Council;and Monsignor Andrea Palmieri,Undersecretary of the Pontifical Council.*
Archbishop Job carried a letter to the Pope from His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.It read in part:
We were particularly pleased to learn that the fourteenth meeting of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue last September in Chieti (Italy),between our Churches was conducted in an atmosphere of fraternal collaboration and mutual theological exchange,sucessfully producing an important common document on primacy and synodality in the first millennium.Thus,this Commission has proposed new steps on the common path towards unity.Now,the Commission will be entering a new phase of the dialogue.It is our prayer that the Coordinating Committee scheduled for September on the island of Leros (Greece) will be fruitful by producing a common theme and a methodology for the next stage of our discussions.*
Following the audience,the delegation was received for lunch by His Holiness Pope Francis and later had conversations with the members of the Pontifical Council.On 28 June,they will attend the Consistory for the creation of new Cardinals.They will then attend the Solemn Mass for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul on 29 June at the Vatican.*
According to tradition,the Vatican will reciprocate by sending a delegation to Constantinople/Istanbul on 30 November,the Feast of St.Andrew,which is the Thronal Feast of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Ecumenical Patriarchate Responds to Ukrainian Parliament,Sends Representative to Meet With President Poroshenko

The Ecumenical Patriarchate is intensifying its involvement in the issue of Orthodox Church unity in Ukraine:
First,it has established a special synodal commission to examine the Verkhovna Rada,or Ukkrainian Parliament,appeal for the Ecumenical Patriarchate to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.In a previous appeal,which the Ecumenical Patriarchate did not respond to,the Verkhovna Rada recently asked His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to issue a Tomos of Autocephaly and to recognise that the 1686 act transferring the Metropolitanate of Kiev to the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church in defiance of canon law was invalid.*
The good news for Ukraine is that "Orthodoxy without Moscow" (in light of the holding of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church despite Moscow's non-attendance) can undertake a sober and serious consideration of Ukraine's bid for autocephaly,wrote Ukrainian columnist Andrew Sorokowski.*
Second,on 29 July 2016,the Ecumenical Patriarchate sent a representative,His Eminence Archbishop Job of Telmessos,to Kiev for a meeting with the President of Ukraine,Petro Poroshenko.Mr.Poroshenko said he was grateful that the Mother Church of Constantinople is now attending to the issue of a single national Orthodox Church,referring to the special commission set up to look into the proposal for Ukrainian autocephaly,according to the Presidential Press Office.The President assured Archbishop Job that the Ukrainian authorities are united in their aspiration for a single national Orthodox Church and noted that the given issue is becoming increasingly topical against the backdrop of global challenges.We should help the believers implement their aspirations on the single Church.*
For his part,Archbishop Job conveyed the greetings of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the entire Mother Church of Constantinople.He assured the President that the Ecumenical Patriarch wants to help Ukraine.The two then discussed the role of state and Church in the prevention of the use of the religious factor for destabilisation of the situation in Ukraine.The President said the task of the government was not to give opportunities to provoke inter-religious and inter-confessional conflicts and expressed satisfaction with the recent work of the law enforcement bodies.*
Mr.Poroshenko also congratulated the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the successful holding of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church:
I think it has approved and strengthened the authority of His All-Holiness in the Orthodox world,Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told the Patriarchal representative,His Eminence Archbishop Job of Telmessos.*
There are currently three Orthodox jurisdictions in Ukraine,the largest of which,and the only one of which is recognised by the other Orthodox Churches,is under the primacy of Metropolitan Onufry of the Patriarchate of Moscow and All Russia.The other two jurisdictions desire autocephaly.