FEATURE - US Priest Leaves Constantinople Patriarchate Seeking Truth, Not Politics

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th February, 2019) A US Orthodox priest who recently left the Constantinople Patriarchate over its decision to grant independence to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine told Sputnik on Tuesday he did so because he seeks truth, not politics in the church.

Father Nectarios Trevino left the Constantinople Patriarchate's American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese (ACROD) late last year and joined the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR). He made the decision to leave after Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew on January 6 handed over an independence decree, or tomos of autocephaly, to the head of the newly established Ukrainian church.

TOO MUCH POLITICS IN UKRAINE'S AUTOCEPHALY

Trevino, who has no personal connections to either Russia or Ukraine, thinks that all Orthodox believers in the United States should fully understand the move to grant independence to the Ukrainian church and decide for themselves whether to remain within the structure of the Constantinople Patriarchate.

"There is too much politics involved," he told Sputnik in an interview on Tuesday. "And when you get politics and religion mixed up together, you confuse the people."

Trevino also argued that the United States was promoting divisions among Christians by congratulating the Orthodox Church of Ukraine for gaining autocephaly.

"What the Secretary of State [Mike Pompeo] did was absolutely wrong in congratulating Ukraine on having its own church. Would he do that to a Muslim or Jewish nation? Would he force Israel to become Muslim or force Saudi Arabia to become Jewish or Christian? No," the priest said.

On January 10, Pompeo hailed the announcement of autocephaly as a "historic achievement" and "momentous occasion" in Ukraine's path toward independence.

Trevino said he perceived the move as a personal tragedy. "I have met Patriarch Bartholomew and even had the privilege and the blessing of talking to him in his office.

I pray for him every day, but I think it was the wrong decision and the wrong time with too much politics," he said.

The priest does not agree with idea of granting autocephaly now, though he does not rule out the possibility of doing so in the future.

"The basic question is - does Ukraine merit or should it have its own autocephalous church? Perhaps in time, but you can not declare autocephaly during the time of schism in your country," he said. "The nation has to mature, the people have to mature, the church has to mature."

Since the end of January, Trevino has been serving at ROCOR's newly created parish in the city of Gainesville, Virginia. The parish has not yet acquired property or even a name, and Trevino is serving not only as its priest, but also its deacon and altar boy.

However, the parish does have one major asset - believers. "We have 65 souls," the priest said of his parishioners.

Most of Trevino's congregation, who include Russians, Belorussians, Serbs, Americans and Salvadorians, followed the priest when he left his ACROD parish.

"We do not have property, we meet in a hotel meeting room," Trevino said. "And we are looking for a place to have a more permanent location. But even then, it will be temporary until we get property."

One of the parishioners traveled all the way from the state of West Virginia just to support father Nectarios during his first liturgy at the new parish. "That is a kind of love and trust in bond that comes from the heart. That is a blessing for me," Trevino said.

Trevino is the second US priest to leave ACROD over the disagreement on Ukraine and join ROCOR. Father Mark Tyson joined ROCOR in October, 2018, the day after the Constantinople Patriarchate first announced its intention to grant independence to Ukraine's non-canonical church.