News
|
 |
|
30 October 2019, 11:00Russian Orthodox Church warning of inevitable breakup with Greek bishops over OCU recognition
Moscow, October 30, Interfax - The news that the Church of Greece has formally recognized the uncanonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) will lead to serious consequences, if confirmed, the Moscow Patriarchate said.
"I suppose the authenticity of these reports must be duly verified. If they are correct, this will necessitate the canonical consequences stipulated in the Holy Synod statement of October 17," Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, deputy head of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations, told Interfax.
It emerged earlier on Tuesday that Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece had written to the OCU leader Yepifaniy Dumenko, effectively declaring his recognition of OCU. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has described it as a "stab in the back." |