The convocation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has decided to part ways with the Moscow Patriarchate and become fully independent, as per the Church’s website.
“Thou shalt not kill, says one of the commandments, and this commandment has been broken. Our Convocation condemns the war and sympathises with all the people hurt by the warfare,” reads the Church’s statement.
The Church has expressed its discontent with the stance of Kirill, the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia. The attendants of the convocation have also made amendments to their charter, “making the Ukrainian Orthodox Church fully independent”.
“Our Convocation addresses the authorities of both Ukraine and Russia asking to resume the negotiations and seek for the solution that would stop the bloodshed,” reads the statement.
Saint Panteleimon Feofania Monastery in Kyiv hosted a convocation today, visited by almost all Ukrainian bishops, as well as clerics, monks and numerous lay people. The convocation was summoned due to the fact that the Moscow Patriarchate, led by Patriarch Kirill, is supportive of the Russian invasion into Ukraine.
The episcopates of Dnipro and Odesa, previously believed to be loyal to the Russian Orthodox Church, also supported the effort towards autocephaly, i.e. independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
