US involvement in the creation of SLC is obvious, – experts
Viacheslav Pikhovshek on the air of the "NewsOne" channel
According to journalist Viacheslav Pikhovshek, the United States actively participates in the creation of the United Local Church. This is confirmed by the increased attention of American diplomats to matters of Orthodoxy in Ukraine. He said this on May 30 in the television programme "Chronology of the Day" on the air of the "NewsOne" channel.
The TV presenter believes: pressure from the US explains "why Patriarch Bartholomew is so persistently going to the adventure that is splitting the Orthodox world".
Pikhovshek talks about the meeting between Archbishop Jerome of Athens and all Greece and the US Ambassador to Greece Jeffrey Payet, centered around the creation of the Single Local Church in Ukraine. He recalled that Jeffrey Payet was an ambassador to Ukraine during the "Euromaidan" in 2014.
The journalist also recalls the visit of the special envoy of the US State Department on International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback to Turkey on August 14, which he paid to the Patriarch of Constantinople.
Pikhovshek also mentions the trip of former ambassador to Ukraine Jeffrey Payet to Athos, during which, according to the diplomat, he discussed important issues of the Orthodox world with the abbots of the monasteries.
"And to be complete the picture, it is important to remember that on May 5, 2018, Minister of Health Ulyana Suprun said that she allegedly ran into Patriarch Bartholomew at the Ataturk airport in Istanbul.
The meeting of Archbishop Jerome of Athens and all Greece with the US Ambassador to Greece Jeffrey Payet took place on May 29. As the Greek media reported, the key issue under discussion by the US Ambassador and Archbishop Jerome was the question of the creation of the United Local Church in Ukraine. The US ambassador stated that "the Orthodox Church can make a decisive contribution to the strengthening of peace and the reconciliation of peoples". Archbishop Jerome, for his part, stressed that Ukraine requires the consent and understanding of all parties on the church issue.
On May 5, the acting Minister of Health Ulyana Suprun joined the negotiations on the SLC with Patriarch Bartholomew. She said that she had "accidentally" met the Patriarch of Constantinople in the airport of Istanbul. After her arrival in Ukraine in 2015, Ulyana Suprun was the director of the Rehabilitation Medicine School of the Uniate Ukrainian Catholic University.
Read also
OCU chaplain: A soldier should not feel guilty for killing enemies
According to a cleric of the OCU, the word “killing” should not even be used in this context.
AFU servicewoman punished by “being sent to the frontline” for defending UOC
An OCU representative explained how commanders punish UOC believers who defend their Church.
UOC church seized after OCU's and UGCC's provocation at soldier's funeral
Supporters of the UGCC brought the body of a soldier into the church, pressuring a UOC priest to conduct the funeral according to the Greek Catholic rite in an Orthodox church.
UOC hierarch calls on the faithful to pray for the return of seized shrine
Metropolitan Theodosiy urged the faithful to communal and personal prayer to Archangel Michael.
Russian Orthodox Church Primate: Christ did not condemn death penalty
The Patriarch added that, although the Church does not welcome the death penalty, it has never condemned it if this punishment is carried out in accordance with the law.
Metropolitan Jonathan appeals sentence to Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has requested criminal case files from the Vinnytsia City Court for cassation review.