OCU "hierarch" announces soonest recognition of OCU by Church of Antioch
Adrian Kulik believes that the OCU needs to "show itself" in Ukraine, because not everyone understands the need for this structure.
"Bishop" Adrian Kulik stated that the Antiochian Orthodox Church would recognize the OCU "in the near future". He said this on the air of "Emigrant Radio" on Monday, September 14, 2020.
According to the "hierarch", the process of recognizing the OCU by other Local Churches, as well as communication with them, was "suspended" by the coronavirus pandemic, but his church structure soon expects "positive decisions" in this direction.
"Now we have the recognition of the Ecumenical Patriarch – and the Church of Alexandria and the Church of Greece, naturally. We expect recognition in the near future from other Churches of the Greek tradition – and the Antiochian Church," Kulik said.
The decisions should be positive because "the recognition and formation of the Ukrainian Church has already taken place": "Tomos was received and no one will ever take it away. Therefore, whether our northern neighbor wants it or not, but it’s an accomplished fact: the child is born, the birth certificate is issued."
He added that such processes "are much slower in the Church than in politics or the modern world," and that the OCU simply needs to be patient.
"Of course, we need to show ourselves, our good will, to communicate with our brothers from other autocephalous Local Churches, but we also need to somehow establish ourselves in this, because even in Ukraine we can see that not everyone understands the need for the Ukrainian Church,” noted the "hierarch" of the OCU.
Earlier, Adrian Kulik initiated the Lenten "challenge" to lose weight.
