Met. Anthony: "List of ten" UOC hierarchs who asked for Tomos is a fake
A list of ten bishops of the UOC is a fake meant to give the false impression that the canonical Church supports autocephaly in Ukraine, said Metropolitan Anthony.
A list of ten bishops of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church supposedly supporting Poroshenko’s bid for autocephaly has been making the rounds through Ukrainian media. However, as His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony of Borispol and Brovary, the Chancellor of the Ukrainian Church, explains in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, the list is a fake.
“We know this list of ten from the media,” Met. Anthony said. “And moreover, Patriarch Bartholomew also told us about it at the meeting in Instanbul, but during our conversation with him, a different number, 8, appeared.”
“I know the list of these people. From this list, only two names are reliable—those who have publicly acknowledged it. There is perhaps a third—that’s under question. But as for the rest, I don’t know how these hierarchs wound up in this list or who put them there,” the chancellor explained.
“That is, this ‘list of ten’ is a fake,” Met. Anthony stated in no uncertain terms, “in order to create the impression that our hierarchs support the creation of a new Church.”
Met. Anthony also recalled that every bishop, during his consecration, gives an oath to be faithful to the canonical Church and not to do anything without the consent of the other bishops.
“For us, people are not an electorate, as for politicians, but for us, they are the people of God,” Met. Anthony noted.
On June 25, all the bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church willingly signed a statement in which they confirm their desire to observe their episcopal oath of allegiance to the canonical Church. Deputy Head of the UOC DECR, Protopriest Nikolai Danilevich later reported that the episcopate of the UOC consciously signed the statement.
