PREVIEW - Kiev To Host Ukrainian Orthodox Churches' Unification Council On Saturday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th December, 2018) Ukraine will host on Saturday the unification council of the Ukrainian Orthodox churches to choose the leader of the new independent Orthodox church and adopt its statute.

The Ukrainian authorities and the newly created church want to get a tomos from the Constantinople patriarch on autocephaly from the Constantinople Orthodox Church. However, the tomos may be obtained only be a leader of the independent Ukrainian church, who is going to be elected on Saturday.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, which has been the only canonical Orthodox church in Ukraine for hundreds of years, has already refused to take part in the unification council.

DURATION OF UNIFICATION COUNCIL

On Saturday, at 9 a.m. (07:00 GMT) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will address Ukrainian citizens at the Sophia Square in Kiev and after that he will enter the Saint Sophia's Cathedral along with other participants of the unification council.

According to Ukrainian presidential adviser Rostyslav Pavlenko, the council may last from several hours to several days.

The adviser also expressed hope for a positive outcome of the unification council.

The unification council will primarily include two schismatic Orthodox churches: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate founded in 1992 and headed by Patriarch Filaret (Denisenko) and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church founded in 1920 and headed by Metropolitan Makariy (Maletych). These two churches, which were recognized by the Constantinople Patriarchate, will be represented by 40 and 14 bishops respectively.

The status of a bishop grants the right to be elected as the head of the unified independent church via secret ballot.

Each of the bishops will be accompanied by one more priest and a layman, who will also have a right to vote. The voting will have two stages. During the first round of the voting three leading candidates will be chosen by all the official participants of the council while the head of the independent Ukrainian church will be chosen among three frontrunners during the second round of the voting only by the 54 bishops.

Several representatives of the Constantinople Patriarchate, which granted autocephaly to the Ukrainian church, will attend the unification council.

It is still unclear whether some representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate will take part in the unification council despite the latter's refusal to join the event.

The main favorite of the patriarch race is current head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate Filaret Denisenko.

Denisenko is opposing the procedure of secret ballot proposed by the Constantinople Patriarchate. Representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate hope to adopt the procedure of open voting during the unification council.

"There is a high probability that Filaret will demonstratively leave the council after his failure to change the voting procedure," a source in the Ukrainian religious circles told Sputnik.

Other candidates are Job of Telmessos, archbishop of the Constantinople Patriarchate, Daniel, also archbishop of the Constantinople Patriarchate, Metropolitan Simeon of Vinnitsa and Bar from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate, who is said to be a favorite of Poroshenko, as well as Auxiliary Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate Epiphany (Dumenko).