Metropolitan Of Minsk Hopes Orthodox World Stays United In Face Of Looming Schism

MINSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th October, 2018) Head of the Belarusian Orthodox Church Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavl Pavel expressed hope on Sunday that the Orthodox world would not be divided by the looming threat of schism given the situation with the Orthodox church in Ukraine and thanked Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill for paying a visit to Belarus.

Kirill arrived in Belarus for a three-day visit on Saturday. The patriarch is set to participate in the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, with the key issue on the agenda being the decision of the Islanbul-based Synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate to proceed toward granting independence to the Orthodox church in Ukraine. There are currently three Orthodox church branches in Ukraine and only one of them, which is a part of the Russian Orthodox Church, is recognized as canonical.

"Today, a disturbing atmosphere reigns in Ukraine � the anticipation of something awful, of schism ... And today we are praying to all saints so that they stand up for us and the enemy of the human race would not be able to divide and ruin our enlightened and pious Orthodox people," Metropolitan Pavel said.

Following the synod's decision, Ukraine is set to convene a united bishops' council to create a single independent church in the country.

On Thursday, the Synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate announced that it would proceed to grant independence to the Orthodox church in Ukraine, which is currently split into three major churches � the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of Moscow Patriarchate, the non-canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP), created after the Soviet collapse, and the so-called Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

The Istanbul-based synod also lifted anathema from the heads of the two non-canonical churches that had been excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church for their schism. The Constantinople Patriarchate also revoked its decision to grant Moscow Patriarchate the right to ordain the Metropolitan of Kiev, which dates back to 1686.

The Russian Orthodox Church said that the decision was the "legalization of schism," adding that it would have catastrophic consequences and would affect millions of Christians in Ukraine and other countries. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate said that the synod's decision was a hostile act, interfering with the Ukrainian church's affairs.