The Orthodox Church is on the verge of a major schism over the situation in Ukraine, Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspol and Brovary, the Chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (the UOC-MP), believes. The hierarch’s comment was published by the Pershy Kozatsky (“First Cossack”) TV channel, reports Patriarchia.ru with reference to the Union of Orthodox Journalists.
“The Orthodox Church worldwide is facing a great crisis,” said Metropolitan Anthony, explaining the tasks of the international conference, “The Conciliarity of the Church: Theological, Canonical, and Historical Dimensions”, held at the Kiev Theological Academy and Seminary. “And today we can say openly that we are on the verge of a major schism due to the situation in Ukraine—the illegal, anti-canonical actions that Patriarch Bartholomew has committed in relation to the Ukrainian schismatics. That’s why the Orthodox Church is looking for a solution in order to prevent the crossing of this line and avoid a major schism.”
Metropolitan Anthony said that representatives of eleven Local Orthodox Churches took part in the theoretical and practical conference held in Kiev. The reports presented at the forum were dedicated to a historical analysis: what precedents in relation to schisms there were in history, and how schismatics were received into Eucharistic communion in the Orthodox Church.
The subject of special attention was the canonical foundations of the Church, which were violated by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople by issuing the so-called “tomos” to the Ukrainian schismatics.