“Constantinople, Kyiv, Moscow: Meeting on the Land of the Baptism of Rus”
24.07.2008, [10:43] // UOC-MP //RISU.ORG.UA
Kyiv— Before the ceremonies on the occasion of the 1020th anniversary of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus, delegated representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) decided to talk with the press about plans for celebration, circumstances of preparation, and their expectations and fears. RISU’s Ukrainian-language site posted the news on 23 July 2008.
Taking part in the press-conference were Ihumen (Abbot) Lonhin (Chernukha), head of the mission of spiritual education of the UOC-MP; Archimandrite Kyryl (Hovorun), head of the Department of External Church Contacts; Archbishop Mytrofan (Yurchyk) of Bilotserkva and Bohuslavskyi; Protopriest Volodymyr Saveliev, head of the publishing department; and Volodymyr Bureka, head of the press-center of the organizing committee for the celebration of the 1020th anniversary of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus.
“The 1020th anniversary is not such a round date,” said Fr. Kyryl. “But this is a certain revision of that which happened with us in the last 20 years.” The archimandrite recalled the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus, in which the main goal was to revive spiritual life. The goal of the celebration now, in his words, after 10 years of rebirth, is to reflect on how to organize church life and its mutual relations with the state, society, and other religious subjects.
”Will or will not the UOC-Kyivan Patriarchate [UOC-KP] be at the general ceremonies?” So the journalists asked the hierarchs. Responding, Fr. Kyryl said that, according to the particular agreements of Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan), head of the UOC-MP, with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople it is known that “schismatic groups” should not participate in the celebrations. But our state is free, he added, in that it cannot forbid anyone to do something; however, if someone of those so-called groups should appear, then it will be in opposition to the agreements of the above-mentioned hierarchs.
The press asked if the president does not “take much on himself,” inviting the ecumenical patriarch and organizing a large program for his visit. Isn’t this a politician interfering in church matters? Archbishop Mytrofan shared his disturbance with the press: “The celebration of the 1020th anniversary is a church initiative, but the state, which stole our idea, included itself, and started to develop it in the way it itself wanted to.” The archbishop emphasized that the visit of the patriarch of Constantinople is a church matter. And the state has the competence to take on itself only questions of the arrangement of delegations and their security. But the president, inviting Bartholomew I, did not even inform the church about this, though at least he should have consulted with the heads of the main denominations. The archbishop is also dissatisfied with the work of the press, which, instead of helping establish a favorable atmosphere for distinguished guests, sets one patriarch against another: one is our friend, the other our enemy.
A key question was a theme which the press has already heated up in recent days: “A Metropolitanate of Constantinople in Ukraine: How Possible is This?” Fr. Kyryl confirmed the existence of such a possibility, but that such acts of the UOC-KP and UAOC (Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church) regarding this seem inconsistent, for they hunger for and have declared principles of autocephaly. But if a Metropolitanate of Constantinople were created, when these two churches would go over to the given jurisdiction, they would simply disappear. And it is not very likely that Constantinople would sometime give them the desired autocephaly. Fr. Kyryl also emphasized that the rights of these churches will be very limited, whereas the UOC-MP in its present status has significantly wider rights.
In order to slightly change the accents, Fr. Lonhin recalled that the UOC-MP specially for the celebration of the 1020th anniversary released a facsimile publication of the Peresopnytskyi Gospel and Bible for the blind. But this is not all. Fr. Saveliev presented to the journalists the recently-published “God’s Law.” For now, 500 copies have been printed. They will be given to guests for the 1020th anniversary ceremonies. Later a larger number of copies will be printed. And they also plan to publish “God’s Law” in Ukrainian, for this is, for now, in the Russian language.
Detailed plans for the events celebrating the 1020th anniversary of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus were presented at the press-conference. The main points in the list, according to Fr. Kyryl, are the festive Divine Liturgy on Volodymyr’s Hill on 27 July where the patriarchs of Constantinople and Moscow will concelebrate and also the Divine Liturgy at the Kyivan Monastery of the Caves on 28 July.