On August 22, 2024, the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine received in his residence a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate consisting of the Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, Archbishop Hilarion of Winnipeg, Metropolitan Job of Pisidia and Patriarchal Deacon Epiphany (Kamyanovych).
This was reported by the press service of OCU.
The meeting was also attended by the Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Ukraine, Bishop Michael of Koman, Deputy Head of the OCU Office of External Church Relations, Metropolitan Yevstratiy of Bila Tserkva, the Vicar of the St. Michael Golden-Top Monastery, Archbishop Ahapit of Vyshhorod, the Vicar of the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Bishop Avraamiy of Boryspil, and the abbot Archpriest Petro Landvytovych of the temple of Little Sophia.
At the beginning of the meeting, His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy thanked the guests for their visit and spoke about the religious and socio-political situation in the country and about the challenges that the Ukrainian people, and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in particular, are facing in the context of the war caused by a full-scale Russian invasion.
Also, during the meeting, there was an exchange of views on a number of topical issues. It was about state-church relations, countering malign Russian propaganda, in which the aggressor state actively involves the Russian Orthodox Church, and about the possibility of dialogue between the Orthodox in Ukraine. In this context, the Primate of the OCU noted that he has already repeatedly declared his openness and readiness for a fair dialogue, without any preconditions or ultimatums.
“A real and sincere dialogue, which is meant to have real prospects, cannot begin otherwise than with ordinary communication without previous calls for surrender, which obviously cannot be fulfilled. We are once again taking steps in the direction of dialogue, and a week ago I once again appealed to Metropolitan Onufriy to launch a dialogue, and yesterday, during a speech on the air of the national telethon, I once again reaffirmed my words. So far, we have not received a single positive answer,” said Metropolitan Epifaniy.
Metropolitan Hilarion expressed gratitude for the warm welcome, saying that the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate had arrived to support the Ukrainian people, state, and Orthodox Church of Ukraine amid the difficult trials of the war.
“We are pleased to convey greetings and blessings from His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, with whom we had a phone call today. We stand with the people, with the state, with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” Metropolitan Hilarion said. “The enemy had hoped that Ukraine would be defeated, but by the grace of God, Ukraine has been defending against full-scale aggression for the third year, which testifies to the indomitable spirit of the Ukrainian people.”
Addressing the issue of the state of Ukrainian Orthodoxy, Metropolitan Hilarion noted: “We hope for a process of unity and reconciliation. Your appeal is a positive step to this end and we hope that a dialogue will be established so that the enemies do not exploit division. That is why the Mother Church supports the dialogue for the sake of the unification of Orthodoxy.”
“Thank you very much for this meeting and we will cooperate,” Metropolitan Hilarion emphasized.
His Beatitude Bishop emphasized again that for more than five years he has been calling for dialogue, but no constructive response has been received.
“Three demands were announced, which mean that we should abandon the decisions of the Mother Church, from the Tomos, from everything that the Ecumenical Patriarch did for Ukraine. Is it possible to fulfill such preconditions if they are aimed not at unity, but at the destruction of the Local Church? Obviously, such ultimatums cannot be accepted. Therefore, we emphasize that one should talk without preconditions, sit down, drink tea or coffee, look into each other’s eyes, talk from a blank slate about how to proceed further, and not recall all past grievances. And if Metropolitan Onufriy agrees, I can sit down and talk with him tomorrow,” said the Primate of the OCU.
After the end of the official part, the parties exchanged gifts and the Head of OCU showed the guests his office and other premises of the residence and invited them to dinner, where the conversation continued in a warm fraternal atmosphere.
The delegation arrived in Ukraine on August 21, 2024 with the blessing of His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who in a corresponding letter to His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy noted that the delegation members “exclusively in cooperation with you will meet with government and church institutions and organizations, and at the same time pass their blessing, good wishes, and greetings from the Mother Church to your country and your gracious people on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the declaration of independence of our dear Ukraine.
