Metropolitan Clement comments on the possible unity of UOC-KP with UOC
The UOC Hierarch recalled that a schism is not just an administrative violation against the Church but a huge sin that violates the principles of gospel morality.
Metropolitan Clement (Vecheria) of Nizhyn and Pryluky of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church commented on the words of Filaret Denisenko about the possible unity of the UOC and the UOC-KP, reports Daily Storm.
In particular, commenting on Filaret Denisenko's words that the UOC-KP could unite with the UOC if the UOC is granted autocephaly, Metropolitan Clement noted that any unity with schismatics can only be the case after the latter have repented.
His Eminence emphasized that what happened “as a result of Filaret’s actions more than 20 years ago is called a church schism. This is not just an administrative violation against the Church but a huge sin that violates the principles of gospel morality.”
That is why, according to Metropolitan Clement, Filaret Denisenko “must not set the conditions for his return to the Church but realize his actions”, because "without this awareness it is impossible to heal all the consequences of Filaret’s actions."
In addition, the UOC Hierarch recalled the situation in 2017, when the head of the UOC-KP wrote the so-called “penitent letter” to the Primate of the ROC Patriarch Kirill but later stated that this was only a formality.
According to Metropolitan Clement, “there is information that Filaret refused [from the letter] under pressure from his entourage and politicians. If there were no third parties, then perhaps the result would have been different. But history brooks no subjunctive mood.”
He emphasized that “everything depends on Filaret himself, on how strong his Christian worldview and the basic principles of spiritual life are.”
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that, according to the head of the UOC-KP, the Phanar-granted Tomos divided the Kiev Patriarchate into two parts.
