Yesterday, the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (in unity with the Moscow Patriarchate) took place, marked by an unprecedented fact – for the first time in the entire history of the church, no decisions of the governing body were published. Only a short message was posted on the official website stating that “the bishops considered the issue of church life.”
The Sofia Brotherhood reported: “Why didn’t the official website of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church publish any decisions this time? Probably, because metropolitans made no important decisions. And it is probably just embarrassing to write about new bishops or new prayers. So, it seems, the UOC leadership has decided that it is better not to publish anything than to cause a new wave of criticism. After all, both the congregation and the general audience would be disappointed—perhaps even more than before. Therefore, it is better to be criticized for silence than for poor decisions.”
The initiative recalled that important decisions were expected from the UOC Synod, in particular regarding:
Further independence of the church from the Russian Orthodox Church
Situation of Metropolitan Feodosiy of Cherkasy
Prohibition of mentioning the Moscow Patriarch during religious services
The Brotherhood assumes that the failure to publish decisions may indicate that no significant resolutions have been adopted.
At the same time, there was positive news. According to sources, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, during a meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha, expressed interest in the idea of the primates of both Orthodox churches in Ukraine visiting the Phanar, which may indicate the existence of communication between Constantinople and the leadership of the UOC (MP).
“This shows that the communication between Constantinople and leadership of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church does exist, and, hopefully, will soon yield positive results,” the Brotherhood concluded.
