Over 300 thousand appeals from UOC believers arrive at Phanar
Priests of the UOC delivered on June 22 to the office of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Istanbul more than 300 thousand appeals from the faithful of the Church.
The faithful expressed their hope that Patriarch Bartholomew will not legalize the church schism in Ukraine by means of granting autocephaly. This was told to the UOJ correspondent by protopriest Viktor Zemlianoy, responsible for the settlement of inter-confessional conflicts of the Rovno eparchy.
Appeals of the UOC parishioners were transferred to Phanar by the priests of the Rovno eparchy Viktor Zemlianoy and Alexander Ilyin on the eve of a meeting between representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which was held on June 23.
In his commentary to the media, protopriest Alexander Ilyin, rector of the Holy Protection Church in the village of Kurgany, Ostrog district, Rovno region, noted that giving Tomos on autocephaly "will enhance schism rather than bring along peace."
The Patriarchate of Constantinople assured the priests of the UOC that they are always welcome and Phanar is ready to accept any documentary evidence expressing the position of the faithful of Ukraine.
At the moment, almost 400,000 signatures have been already transferred to the Secretariat of the Patriarch of Constantinople. The first 10,000 appeals from the believers of the UOC arrived in early May, and then another 50,000 were sent to Phanar.
The meeting between hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Patriarchate of Constantinople occurred on June 23. The purpose of the meeting was to provide Phanar with objective information about the problems of Ukrainian Orthodoxy, and also to hear from Patriarch Bartholomew if he is really going to bestow Tomos on autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
In mid-April, Poroshenko turned to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople with a request to grant Tomos on autocephaly to the Church in Ukraine and announced the creation of a Single Local Church. The Verkhovna Rada supported the petition of the President. The Kiev Patriarchate has already stated that they see their leader Filaret, anathematized by the canonical Church, as a SLC head.
