Greek theologian: Religious situation in Ukraine divides Orthodoxy

Heads of Local Churches at the Crete Council. Photo: christianitytoday.com

Greek theologian, Professor Nikos Kouremenos of the University of Athens, stated that the religious situation in Ukraine is dividing the Local Orthodox Churches.

In an interview with Euronews, Nikos Kouremenos explained that the OCU has been recognized by only a minority of the 15 official Orthodox Churches: the Churches of Cyprus, Greece, and Alexandria, while the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) still considers it a schismatic group.

"The Orthodox world is clearly divided when it comes to the Ukrainian religious question,” explained Nikos Kouremenos, a lecturer at the University of Athens.

“Some Orthodox churches that can be considered as satellites of Moscow, like the Serb and the Syrian Patriarchates of Belgrade and of Antioch respectively, have openly rejected the idea of an autocephalous Kyiv Orthodox Church,” he said.

"The rest of the patriarchates, like the Georgian and the Romanian ones, have not taken any formal step toward the recognition of the (Orthodox) Church of Ukraine. They have abstained,” Kouremenos noted.

According to him, many Ukrainian Orthodox believers do not want to leave the UOC and join the OCU “fearing a potential excommunication for being schismatics.”

Yet, he says, the entire religious situation in Ukraine “turned into a schism of its own..”

Previously, UOJ reported that the Greek theologian explained why Churches do not condemn Patriarch Kirill as heretic.