Tag: Autocephaly

Will Orthodoxy in Ukraine Miss a Chance?
Inter-Orthodox Relations

Will Orthodoxy in Ukraine Miss a Chance?

Image: iStock.com/Haidamac On May 27, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) declared its independence from the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), of which it had until then been a branch. The reason is very clear: it disagrees with its (former) supreme hierarch, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, who has supported the Russian war against Ukraine. The UOC did…

Continue reading
The Orthodox Church in Ukraine: War and “Another Autocephaly”
Inter-Orthodox Relations

The Orthodox Church in Ukraine: War and “Another Autocephaly”

War changes many things, primarily people’s minds, but also the usual flow of time. What takes years or even decades in peacetime takes a few months, or sometimes even days, during war.  On May 27, the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the highest governing body of the church, after much debate, expressed its…

Continue reading
The UOC-MP at the Crossroads
Inter-Orthodox Relations, Orthodoxy and Modernity

The UOC-MP at the Crossroads

by Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko | български | ქართული | ελληνικά | Română | Русский | Српски Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine has caught the attention of the public for multiple reasons. The humanitarian catastrophe, the sheer horror of ceaseless shelling, the shooting of protesters in the streets, the attacks on nuclear plants, the threats…

Continue reading
Help Ukraine by Recognizing the OCU’s Autocephaly
Inter-Orthodox Relations, Orthodoxy and Modernity

Help Ukraine by Recognizing the OCU’s Autocephaly

by Andreja Bogdanovski | български | ქართული | ελληνικά | Română | Русский | Српски Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the West has displayed a significant level of unity and solidarity with Ukraine. Comprehensive sanctions against Russia’s leadership coupled with military support to the Ukrainians have been at the forefront…

Continue reading
The Tigray Crisis and the Possibility of an Autocephalous Tigray Orthodox Tewahdo Church
Inter-Orthodox Relations, Orthodoxy and Modernity, Religion and Conflict

The Tigray Crisis and the Possibility of an Autocephalous Tigray Orthodox Tewahdo Church

by Habtom Yohannes | български | ქართული | ελληνικά | Română | Русский | Српски The ongoing war in Tigray, the cradle of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Christianity, might lead into yet another split of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church (EtOTC), this time into an Amhara-based Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church and a Tigray-based Orthodox Tewahdo Church,…

Continue reading
On Throwing Stones in Houses of Glass <br><span style='color:#8D8381;font-size:18px;'>Moscow, Constantinople, and Autocephaly</span>
Ecclesiology

On Throwing Stones in Houses of Glass
Moscow, Constantinople, and Autocephaly

by Fr. Bohdan Hladio | български |  Ελληνικά | Русский  |  Српски Much breath and ink continues to be spent castigating the Patriarchate of Constantinople for its “uncanonical” bestowal of autocephaly upon the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).  Characteristic are the words of newly-elected Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia: “The actions of Constantinople in Ukraine are…

Continue reading
The New Serbian Patriarch and the Burden of Old Territorial Problems
Inter-Orthodox Relations, Religion and Politics

The New Serbian Patriarch and the Burden of Old Territorial Problems

by Andreja Bogdanovski | български | ქართული | Ελληνικά | Русский | Српски Of all the Orthodox churches, the Serbian church was hit the hardest by the Covid pandemic, which resulted in the death of its Patriarch Irinej as well as that of the highest bishop in neighboring Montenegro, Metropolitan Amfilohije. While the Serbian and…

Continue reading
Toward a New Ecclesiological Paradigm? Consequences of the Ukrainian Autocephaly
Ecclesiology, Inter-Orthodox Relations

Toward a New Ecclesiological Paradigm? Consequences of the Ukrainian Autocephaly

by Thomas Bremer When the Ecumenical Patriarchate granted autocephaly to the newly established “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” (OCU), it intended to create a single local Church which would basically comprise all the Orthodox believers in that country. The name of the new Church as it appears in the tomos, namely “Most Holy Church of Ukraine,”…

Continue reading
Did the American Government Create the OCU? Political Ambitions and the Ukrainian Church
Religion and Politics

Did the American Government Create the OCU? Political Ambitions and the Ukrainian Church

by Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko The creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) has inspired a number of hypotheses on who initiated the event. Past president Petro Poroshenko, Patriarch Filaret, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew are usually identified as the architects of Ukrainian autocephaly. There is also a chorus of voices that attributes the creation…

Continue reading
Ukrainian Autocephaly and Responsibility toward the Faithful
Inter-Orthodox Relations

Ukrainian Autocephaly and Responsibility toward the Faithful

by His Eminence Metropolitan Ignatius of Demetrias (Volos, Greece)  |  Русский The following are excerpts from the intervention of His Eminence Metropolitan Ignatius of Demetrias, Chairman of the Synodal Committee for Inter-Orthodox and Inter-Christian Relations, during the Extraordinary Session of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece (12th October 2019). The Synodal Committee for…

Continue reading
The Voice of Silence: A Monastic Voice on the Ukrainian Question
Ecclesiology, Inter-Orthodox Relations

The Voice of Silence: A Monastic Voice on the Ukrainian Question

by Mother Abbess Theoxeni The Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle will soon be publishing a collection of essays titled The Ecumenical Patriarchate and Ukraine Autocephaly: Historical, Canonical, and Pastoral Perspectives. The collection will include twelve papers by eminent clergy and laity related to the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. We are pleased…

Continue reading
If This Is the End, I Will Know It Is Not Love
Ecclesiology, Theology

If This Is the End, I Will Know It Is Not Love

In European cities, the period of anticipation of the joyous feast of Christmas has turned into a commercial and consumerist custom. Why are we so far away from an authentic approach to the feast? There will always be a number of those who see in Christmas another opportunity to evoke the past and traditionalism, which…

Continue reading
Schismophrenia: A Reflection on Ukrainian Autocephaly
Ecclesiology, Inter-Orthodox Relations, Orthodoxy and Modernity

Schismophrenia: A Reflection on Ukrainian Autocephaly

“No earthly joy exists unmingled with sorrow” —St. John of Damascus We are all no doubt aware of the controversy surrounding the recent proclamation of autocephaly for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. As a Ukrainian Orthodox priest, I cannot help but see how St. John’s words are an apt description…

Continue reading
Healing the Ukrainian Schism
Orthodoxy and Modernity

Healing the Ukrainian Schism

by Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko Among the sister Churches that are now called upon to either recognize or refuse recognition of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), a common refrain is intoned: a conciliar and synodal process needs to take place to resolve this issue. Some would like a synaxis of primates, and others have…

Continue reading
Virtual Town Meeting Aims to Clarify the Issue of Ukrainian Autocephaly
Inter-Orthodox Relations

Virtual Town Meeting Aims to Clarify the Issue of Ukrainian Autocephaly

by Anthony J. Limberakis, MD It is one of the most vexing and important questions confronting the Church in our time, and one of the least understood: the granting of autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople has rocked the Church more than any event in the last…

Continue reading
Give Us This Day Our Daily Portion of Nationalism…
Orthodoxy and Modernity, Theology

Give Us This Day Our Daily Portion of Nationalism…

by Davor Džalto I tried to stay away from publicly expressing my thoughts on the current church/autocephaly crisis in Ukraine, for many reasons. First of all, there are much more competent people who know the situation better than I do. Second, the issue of autocephaly of the church in Ukraine has, by now, escalated so…

Continue reading
Has Moscow Undermined Its Ability To Engender a Schism?
Inter-Orthodox Relations

Has Moscow Undermined Its Ability To Engender a Schism?

by Sotiris Mitralexis  |  ελληνικά Most observers are growing increasingly more worried about the drifting apart of Constantinople and Moscow on the basis of Ukraine’s imminent autocephaly. I would like to make a case to the contrary. There are indications that the possibility of a full-blown schism between two halves of the Orthodox world (rather than…

Continue reading
Can History Solve the Conflict about Ukrainian Autocephaly?
Church History, Orthodoxy and Modernity

Can History Solve the Conflict about Ukrainian Autocephaly?

by Thomas Bremer and Sophia Senyk In early September 2018, the gathering conflict between the Patriarchates of Constantinople and Moscow around the status of Orthodoxy in Ukraine escalated. The Ecumenical Patriarchate, in response to a request by the Ukrainian president and the parliament, announced the preparation of a tomos which would grant autocephaly for the Orthodox…

Continue reading
Can Tug-of-War Lead to Unity?
Church History, Ecclesiology, Inter-Orthodox Relations

Can Tug-of-War Lead to Unity?

  The death of Patriarch Alexei II marked the end of the “cold era” contacts between Moscow and Constantinople and started a new epoch in inter-Orthodox relations. Kirill’s first foreign visit since his January 2009 election as Patriarch of Moscow was to Constantinople and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Unity and ecumenism were priorities for Patriarch…

Continue reading
It’s Time for an Independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Global Orthodoxy

It’s Time for an Independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church

by Evagelos Sotiropoulos  |  ру́сский Ukraine achieved independence in 1991, and since then (and before, as well, dating back one hundred years) there have been efforts among the Orthodox faithful and their leaders—political and religious—to establish an independent (autocephalous) Ukrainian Orthodox Church. And since 1991, the Moscow Patriarchate has been unable or unwilling to settle the…

Continue reading
The Church in Modern Ukraine: Information Literacy and the Narrative
Orthodoxy and Modernity

The Church in Modern Ukraine: Information Literacy and the Narrative

by Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko “A Tomos of autocephaly from the Ecumenical Patriarchate would legitimize the schism in Ukraine. We must support the canonical church.” “Autocephalists are not ‘church people’. They are nationalists who seek to exploit the Church, and autocephaly will sever communion with the Orthodox Church.” “The schism in Ukraine began in 1992…

Continue reading
Russia and Ukraine: The Empire’s New Old Clothes
Global Orthodoxy

Russia and Ukraine: The Empire’s New Old Clothes

by Fr. Bohdan Hladio The historical path of the Church in Ukraine is controverted and complex: both Moscow and Constantinople claim Ukraine as their canonical territory. As a result, one of the largest Orthodox Churches in the world has experienced schism for over twenty-five years. In April 2018 the Government of Ukraine officially requested a…

Continue reading
The Promise of Autocephaly in Ukraine: What’s at Stake?
Global Orthodoxy

The Promise of Autocephaly in Ukraine: What’s at Stake?

by Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko Last week, news circulated that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is expected to issue a Tomos of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. This news appeared on the heels of a meeting that took place between Patriarch Bartholomew, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and his delegation after Pascha on April 9, 2018….

Continue reading
Global Orthodoxy, Holy and Great Council

The Orthodox “Diaspora”: Mother Churches, Mission, and the Future

by Rev. Dr. Radu Bordeianu, Will Cohen, Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko, Brandon Gallaher, Rev. Dr. D. Oliver Herbel, and Kerry San Chirico Among the issues to be heard by the Orthodox Churches at the June 2016 Great and Holy Council in Crete is the situation of the Orthodox diaspora. The Council will be working with…

Continue reading
Ecclesiology, Global Orthodoxy

Phyletism and the Case for Ukrainian Autocephaly

by Nicholas Denysenko In my previous post, I introduced the Ukrainian problem and its significance for the forthcoming Great and Holy Council to be held in Crete in June 2016. Having argued that the movement for autocephaly in Ukraine originated nearly one-hundred years ago and is beginning to mature only in this post-soviet period, a…

Continue reading
Ecclesiology

The Marks of Autocephaly

By James C. Skedros The canonical situation in the United States is recognized by nearly all Orthodox theologians and ecclesiastical leaders as anomalous and contrary to the organizational principle of the early church of one bishop presiding over one eucharistic community.  The canons of Nicaea I (325) and especially Canon 2 of the Council of…

Continue reading
Contact
Disclaimer

Public Orthodoxy seeks to promote conversation by providing a forum for diverse perspectives on contemporary issues related to Orthodox Christianity. The positions expressed in the articles on this website are solely the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or the Orthodox Christian Studies Center.

Attribution

Public Orthodoxy is a publication of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University