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Primate of the UOC
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LVIV-MOSCOW. Archbishop Augustine of Lviv and Halych: “Reunion of schismatic communities with the Church can be performed in the canonical way only”
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June 13, 2008
Archbishop Augustine in his article "On Unity of the Chuch", published on the site of the Council of Bishops of the ROC, reflects on the causes of emerging of the church dissents and on the ways of their overcoming.
Commenting on the church
canonical situation in Ukraine
the hierarch points out that several aspects of the problem of preserving the
church unity are to be considered: the canonical, dogmatic and moral
ones.
"Today, as far as the
church schism existing in our country is concerned, it is not unusual to hear
from some people the appeals to refuse from certain church canons, which are
declared to be outdated and to have sense only under particular
circumstances, relevant to the historical past", - Vladyka Augustine noted.
"As a rule, these declarations belong to representatives of quasi-church intellectuals
or para-church political leaders taken with the ideas of national
consciousness and the "state Church" and defend the initiators of both
schisms.
Being unaware of the
nature of the Church as a theanthropic organism, they put forward demands of
immediate elimination of existing separations between the believers," Archbishop Augustine
emphasizes. They argue that the modern
life is different and the old canons has turned from instruments of order
into the mechanism of breaking, which obstruct the development of the living
spirit in the Church and making necessary transformations in it.
They suggest that one of
the main conditions for the church development is overcoming schisms in a
newly found manner in defiance the "old-fashioned" canonical ways. The reunion initiators "do not suggest
reunification with the canonical Church through penance, but in any other way
in order to evade the feat of moral choice", the hierarch notes. "The
approach of the radical consolidators mentioned causes logically consequent indignation
of the people who are well aware of the church tradition and are reverently
concerned of its preservation. And this is understandable since the attempt
against the canonical Law of the Church is unacceptable in terms of the
evangelic morals."
As an example of a truly
church solution of a similar problem archbishop Augustine
mentioned the reunification of the Russian Church Abroad with the Moscow
Patriarchate. He noted that "those
modern influential politicians and representatives of the authorities, who
consider their mission to be the support of the church reunification
processes in Ukraine,
are to learn by this example".
"The Russian Church
Abroad was in dissent with the Moscow Patriarchate", emphasized Vladyka
Augustine, "as a result of the Russian revolution of 1917, and it developed
in its own way for many years, but by the beginning of the 21st
century it realized that only the unity in love is the basic principle of
being of the orthodox Church of Christ, which contains all plenitude of
grace. The internal presupposition for
the reunification of the two branches of the Russian Church
became due and it took place willingly, naturally and without pressure from
any party."
Today, states Vladyka
Augustine, the initiators of the so-called "reunification of the two branches
of the Orthodoxy", staying out of the fold of the canonical Orthodox Church,
argue that this reunification is required by the interests of the state and
the nation, and above all - this reunification is imposed by the necessity of
freedom. "Of course it is not the
freedom that is achieved by the comprehension of Truth, as the Apostle said,
but by the freedom that headed the prodigal son to the distant land", he
reminded the sense of the gospel parable.
In conclusion of his
article the hierarch underlines that the return to the fold of the Holy
Orthodox Church of the leaders and adherents of the so-called "Ukrainian
Autocephalous Orthodox Church" and the "Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv
Patriarchate" will be possible when the hostility is overcome and the
Christian love is restored".
Patriarchia.ru
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orthodox.org.ua |
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Ukrainian Orthodox Church |
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