Kiev, April 2, 2021
Patriarch Bartholomew and President Yushchenko in 2008. Photo: religionpravda.com.ua
While Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople finally teamed up with the Ukrainian President and state in 2018 and entered into communion with the schismatics of the “Kiev Patriarchate” (KP) and the “Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church” (UAOC) in order to create the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” (OCU) it is also known that he had long been planning to interfere in Ukrainian Church territory.
In October, Alexander Drabinko, a former canonical metropolitan who abandoned the Church of Christ in order to become a schismatic of the OCU, published a document showing that Pat. Bartholomew was ready to “settle the Ukrainian Church problem” back in 2008, and the KP was ready to become an autonomous Church within the Patriarchate of Constantinople, according to an appeal from the hierarchs of the KP to the Patriarch at that time.
And yesterday, Drabinko published another document from his personal archives showing that Pat. Bartholomew, President Viktor Yushchenko, and the heads of the schismatic KP and UAOC had already agreed to work together to create a Local Ukrainian Church.
The document shows that Constantinople’s historical revisionism was already at play, claiming that the Mother Church of Ukraine is Constantinople.
The document was drawn up and signed in both English and Ukrainian. It reads in full:
Being guided by the will of the Ukrainian people, restoring history of the Orthodoxy of the Kyiv Russ, and seeking after the unification of the Orthodox churches of Ukraine, we, undersigned, having adequate credentials, express our deep concern over fate of the Orthodoxy in Ukraine and mutual aspiration to commence the process of establishing Ukrainian Manorial [Local—O.C.] Orthodox Church that would unite all orthodox community in Ukraine strictly in line with orthodox clerical canons and church traditions, adhering to the Constitution of Ukraine and its laws.
Truly believing in Ukrainian Manorial Orthodox Church with the aid of the Mother-church, which is the Ecumenical Patriarchate for it, will occupy a place of honor among Sister-churches of the Holy Orthodox Completeness.
The document is signed by President Yushchenko, Pat. Bartholomew, “Patriarch” Philaret Denisenko of the KP, and “Metropolitan” Methodiy Kudriakov of the UAOC (the predecessor of Makary Maletich, who led the UAOC when it joined the OCU and self-dissolved in 2018-2019).
Photo: raskolam.net
On the other hand, in the same year, His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir (Sabodan) of Kiev and All Ukraine, whose memory is often blasphemously abused by the schismatics who try to claim them as their supporter, explicitly told Pat. Bartholomew that creating parallel jurisdictions in Ukraine would not heal the schism.
The reality in Ukraine after Constantinople’s interference has proven Met. Vladimir correct.
Read more about Pat. Bartholomew’s collaboration with Ukrainian schismatics in 2008 in a recent interview with Abbess Seraphima (Shevchik), the head of the Ukrainian Church’s Synodal Church and Culture Department, “The Strength of Ukrainian is in it Orthodox Faith.”
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