OCU reports the arrival of the missive from Greek Church

The head of the OCU, Epiphany Dumenko, received a peace missive from the Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Hellas. This was reported on the website of the newly created church structure.

“It was with great pleasure that we received the Patriarchal letter No. 1119 of December 24, 2018, from which we learned about the initiative and actions of the Mother See and the First-Throned Church of Constantinople, which favorably examined the issue in relation to you and the hierarchs in your surroundings, the holy clergy and people faithful to the Lord, and rectified the separation in the flock of our Archpastor, our Lord and Savior,” reads the text of the document. “We also learned about the synodal consideration by the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the declaration of autocephaly and self-government of the Holy Church of Ukraine, enjoying the same rights and obligations as other Autocephalous Churches do.”

In his letter the Primate of the Church of Greece said that in December 2018, he received “with joy” the letters about the “canonical election” of Epiphany. In response, he sent congratulations to the head of the OCU on behalf of his entire Church.

“We sent Your Beatitude personally our sincere congratulations of the Holy Hierarchy and pious clergy, the God-loving people of the Holy Hellenic Church and wishes of the enlightenment and support by the Divine Trinity in the fulfillment of your new duties and responsibilities as the Primate of the Ukrainian Church,” wrote Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece.

According to him, the decision of the Patriarch of Bartholomew of Constantinople regarding the creation of the OCU made the Greek Church feel rejoiced.

“We rejoice over the good news that our shared aspirations and actions were crowned with success and that the barrier that stood in the middle between you and us, the Orthodox and brothers in everything, the barrier that separated us causing sorrows, major scandals and great harm to the entire Church and the joint witness of Orthodoxy in the modern world was finally broken down,” the Primate of the Church of Greece shared with Epiphany.

In his letter, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece wished the Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to “to completely lift up from the Church of Ukraine the commotion which disturbed Her destroying Her unity, and to fully restore in the Church peace, tranquility, and sustainability for God’s sake and the entire oikumena of Orthodoxy”.

Earlier, Patriarch Bartholomew thanked Archbishop Ieronymos for the decision on the OCU.