Granting Tomos Of Autocephaly To New Ukrainian Church Non-Canonical Move - UOC-MP

Granting tomos of autocephaly to the newly established Ukrainian church is a non-canonical move that will only bring trouble and division to Ukraine, Vasily Anisimov, the head of the press service of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), told Sputnik on Saturday

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th January, 2019) Granting tomos of autocephaly to the newly established Ukrainian church is a non-canonical move that will only bring trouble and division to Ukraine, Vasily Anisimov, the head of the press service of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), told Sputnik on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew signed the tomos granting autocephaly to the "new church" of Ukraine.

"Traditionally, troubles always happen in Ukraine on the night before Christmas. The signing [of tomos] and this move will bring nothing but challenges and conflict to Ukraine. We consider these actions as non-canonical and illegal, which is defined in the decisions of the UOC Council.

This move will only bring trouble, division, and sin to Ukraine," Anisimov said.

UOC-MP archbishop, Kliment Vecherya, told Sputnik that granting tomos of autocephaly to the "new church" was a gross violation of all patristic and apostolic rules.

"Churches are not created by patriarchs and presidents. The church was created by God, and no one has the right to create new churches. What the Constantinople patriarch is currently doing is a gross violation of all patristic and apostolic rules that the church has been following for 2,000 years," he said.