Pope Francisco Spoke Against Encroachments on Integrity of Russian Church

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On Thursday, Pope Francisco Bergoglio said at a meeting with a group of Russian clergy that the Roman Catholic Church is in favour of the unity of the Russian Orthodox Church in the wake of Ukrainian President P A Poroshenko’s plan to institute an independent local [national] Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Metropolitan Ilarion Alfeyev, the chief of the MP OVTsS, led the group visiting the Vatican. The Pope of Rome said:

I want to confirm most of all in front of you, dear brother, and before you, that the Catholic Church will never allow an attitude of division to be born on its own. We’ll never allow it; we don’t want it. In Russia, there is only one Patriarch, yours. We won’t have another. Unification as a method isn’t acceptable in relations between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians at the current stage and only a sisterly dialogue between these two denominations of Christianity is possible. The Catholic Church, the Catholic Churches, shouldn’t interfere in the internal affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church, not even in political matters. This is my position and the position of the Holy See today. Those who meddle don’t obey the Holy See.

At the end of April, the Verkhovnaya Rada supported President Poroshenko’s appeal to Patriarch Bartholomew Archontonis of Constantinople, who has the titular status of “first amongst equals” in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. He asked Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to grant autocephaly to a “united” Orthodox Church in the Ukraine. The global Orthodox Christian community recognises only one canonical Orthodox community in the Ukraine… the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of to Moscow Patriarchate. Operating simultaneously are another two bodies, unrecognised by global Orthodoxy… the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of to the so-called Kiev Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

In the meantime, experts and analysts say that Poroshenko’s aspirations received substantial backing from the so-called Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (Eastern Catholic Church of the Byzantine Rite), which is under the Vatican. Earlier this month, Metropolitan Ilarion told NTV that Archbishop (sic) Svyatoslav Shevchuk, the leader of the Ukrainian Uniates “repeatedly stated his support of the project for a unified Local Ukrainian Orthodox Church, while saying that the unity of this Church should be built on the successor of St Peter, that is, the Pope of Rome”.

31 May 2018

TASS

http://tass.com/society/1007457

Editor:

Francisco is telling the Uniates to cool it. However, they’re refusing to obey him. They’ve taken the CIA’s shilling for years; they more listen to Washington than to Rome. The Uniates don’t care what Francisco wants… their leadership are fanatics, as is the leadership of the so-called “Ukrainian Orthodox”. Ukrainian nationalists are evil… they push an agenda mired in falsehood and lies. The Habsburgs sicced these nutters on the world… the Austro-Hungarians have the blame for starting this kerfuffle (they wanted to weaken Russia… it led to their death camp at Thalerhof). Don’t forget, the Uniates blessed the SS, as did the so-called “Ukrainian Orthodox”. They’re unrepentant of that… hell, they’re proud of it! Ponder that… ponder it well…

BMD

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MP is Going to Point Up Uniate Misbehaviour in its Dialogue with the Vatican

This is a blasphemous Uniate “icon”… I need say nothing more… it’s depraved and utterly repulsive…

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The MP shall insist that dialogue with Roman Catholics include the problem of the Unia, especially, in light of harsh Uniate criticism of those taking part in the all-Ukrainian religious procession for peace and national reconciliation. On Tuesday, in Moscow, the MP Synodal Department for External Church Relations (OVTsS) released a statement saying (in part):

In view of the unprecedented belligerent rhetoric of S Yu Shevchuk (Major Archbishop of the UGKTs) and L Ya Guzar (former Uniate head) in relation to the canonical UPTs/MP and the MP as a whole, the OVTsS believes that its most urgent for us to bring up the subject of the canonical and pastoral implications of the Unia at the next plenary session of the Joint Commission for Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue.

The next session of the Commission will be on 15-22 September in Chieti (Italy). The all-Ukrainian religious procession for peace and national reconciliation took place from 3-27 July, with columns coming from both the east and west, ending in Kiev on the eve of the feastday of the Baptism of Rus (28 July). In all, about 100,000 Orthodox believers took part in the procession. Meanwhile, the opponents of the peace march claimed that it was really a political action. In particular, Shevchuk likened the procession to a “human shield made up of civilians”. He blustered, “If the marchers utter anti-Ukrainian slogans and provocations, it’d mark the end of the MP in the Ukraine”. In turn, former Uniate head Guzar said, “[The UPTs/MP march] is a vile trick. It’s cynical; you really can’t imagine anything worse”.

The OVTsS statement said:

From these hateful statements, it’s clear that canonical Orthodoxy remains the target of fierce attacks by Uniate leaders. For centuries, when possible, the Uniates tried to oppose Orthodoxy with assistance from friendly civil authorities, or, if not, they used various insinuations, frauds, and deceit. Today, once again, with their politicised statements, the Uniate leadership is trying to drive a wedge between Orthodox and Catholics. We wonder whether it’s possible to conduct a dialogue with Roman Catholics on other theological subjects at a time when the Unia remains a bleeding wound, and when the Uniate leadership won’t stop blasphemous and politicised rhetoric against the canonical UPTs/MP. Thus, immediately, we must resume dialogue on the canonical and pastoral implications of the Unia, stopped because of Uniate complaints.

2 August 2016

Interfax-Religion

http://interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=63966

Uniate Chieftain Shevchuk Sez “UPTs/MP is the Only Canonical Orthodox Church in the Ukraine”

Is Shevchuk bolting the junta? Is he making his peace with a future pro-Russian reality? It’s a possibility… but we’d have to see developments to be sure, no? The Uniates DO speak with forked tongue…

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S Yu Shevchuk, the head of the UGKTs, said on-air on American radio station SiriusXM, speaking with Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, the head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Today, there’s no mystery that the only canonical Orthodox Church in the Ukraine, the only one in full communion with world Orthodoxy, is the UPTs/MP. Other Orthodox groups separated from the UPTs/MP after Ukrainian independence at different times for various reasons, but the other Orthodox Churches consider them uncanonical. For us as Eastern Catholics, these divisions in Ukrainian Orthodoxy are painful, but we respect the canons and internal order of the Orthodox side. On our part, we never attempted to interfere in the internal life of the Orthodox Church; we never took part in the debates about its canonical legitimacy, nor did we incite any group to initiate a schism. You can’t solve existing problems with new schisms, divisions, or amalgamations”. He hoped that these schisms would end in the near future, noting, “We interact with the ‘Kiev Patriarchate’ as a part of the ‘All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations’. Therefore, I’d say that these relations are more in the realm of public relations, not inter-church contacts. I have deep respect for the Russian people and the MP. In fact, over half the Maidan participants were Russian-speakers and members of the UPTs/MP”.

Earlier, the MP repeatedly criticised the UGKTs for its involvement in politics and for its support of Ukrainian schismatical groups. In particular, recently, Metropolitan Ilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk, head of the MP Synodal Department for External Church Relations (OVTsS), spoke at the Vatican during the General Assembly of the Synod of Catholic Bishops. He appealed to the UGKTs delegation, “You should renounce all political statements and end all visible forms of support of the schism, as well as to put a stop to calls to create ‘a single Local Ukrainian Church’. From the beginning, unfortunately, the conflict in the Ukraine, which has already taken thousands of lives, had a religious dimension. In this, the UGKTs played a significant role in its origin and development. From the very first days of the conflict, the Greek Catholics unequivocally stood for only one side of the conflict. Contrary to the respect for canonical norms prevailing in relations between Catholics and the Orthodox Church, the Greek Catholics entered into active collaboration with Orthodox schismatics”.

21 October 2014

Interfax-Religion

www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=56815

Editor:

This is fascinating. If Shevchuk is on the up-and-square (a rather iffy proposition, I’d say, but let’s take it as is, for now), it means that the UGKTs is backing away from its support of Orthodox schismatical groups. Indeed, it appears that Shevchuk is saying that the UGKTs recognises only the UPTs/MP… that it wants NOTHING to do with Ukrainian nationalist schismatical groups. Is this a sign that the Uniate junta is sinking and that Shevchuk wants to conform himself to a new reality? Of course, it could just be bullshit to blow smoke into our eyes. The Uniates have lied all too often in the past… the Uniates DID bless the SS collaborators and the UPA terrorists, after all. We’ll have to see what happens.

Interesting… IF true…

BMD

Metropolitan Ilarion Alfeyev Criticised Uniates for their Connivance in Western Interference in Ukrainian Internal Affairs

A typical Uniate production…

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Metropolitan Ilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk, the head of the MP Synodal Department of External Church Relations (OVTsS), criticised Ukrainian Greek Catholics (UGKTs) for meddling in politics, saying on The Church and the World on Rossiya-24 TV, “Both Supreme Archbishop Svyatoslav Shevchuk, as well as former Archbishop Lyubomir Guzar, now retired, took a very clear position from the beginning of the civil conflict, which unfortunately grew later into an armed bloody conflict. The Uniates didn’t just call for so-called European integration; they even called for Western countries to intervene more actively in Ukrainian internal affairs. Archbishop Svyatoslav Shevchuk travelled to the USA with so-called “Patriarch” Filaret Denisenko; they went to the offices of the US State Department and asked the USA to interfere in Ukrainian affairs”.

Meanwhile, he said that the UOC/MP takes the position that the Church should welcome people of all political beliefs, not just the openly radical and chauvinistic, noting, “The canonical Orthodox Church has room for everybody. It doesn’t stand on this or that side of the barricades. It brings everyone together, and, when necessary, it stands between rival factions, as one saw with the monks who came out and stood up, risking their lives, their health, to prevent bloodshed between two warring parties. The Uniates are a special project of the Catholic Church; we Orthodox always looked at them very negatively, because, in fact, Uniates look like Orthodox and follow Orthodox rites, but they’re really Catholics”.

Vladyki Ilarion felt that this peculiar status gives room for evasions by both Greek Catholics and the Vatican, saying, “For example, I had to talk to senior Vatican officials about positions taken by the Greek Catholics. I asked, ‘How is it possible that the Greek Catholic Church is so much in sympathy with schismatics that they have joint actions, prayers, and visits?’ They answered me, ‘They’re autonomous; we don’t control them from the Vatican’. At the same time, the Vatican doesn’t want to dissociate itself from the actions of the Uniates”. Speaking about the beginning of a dialogue between canonical and non-canonical Church entities in the Ukraine, he thought that this dialogue has prospects.

26 March 2014

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=54831

Editor:

It looks like Ilarion Valeryovich had a “come to Jesus” moment. I think that some curial snake whom he considered a pal gave him the Italian Stallion with no Vaseline. Ouch! The papists will live to regret that… often, when one feels betrayed, one becomes the bitter foe of one’s former associates. He’s not the first to have a seeming friend fuck him over, and, sadly, he won’t be the last, the human condition being what it is. Shall he persist on this righteous course, or, shall he go back to his vomit after the shit-storm dies down? Only time will tell us…

BMD