Zaporozhye Metropolitan refused to consider Constantinople a “Church”
Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol, one of two Ukrainian hierarchs who serve on the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, told the BBC how the decision to sever relations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople will impact ordinary Ukrainian believers, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“I have not known such a patriarchate (of Constantinople - Ed) since October 11, and everything that will be issued and decided there is already a piece of paper from the janitor Aunt Masha, and not from members of the Orthodox Church. They fell away. Because the accepted statement is fateful. By its actions on October 11, the Patriarchate of Constantinople actually dissolved itself. Refusal to observe the canons of the mother church is evidence of a falling away from Christ. For me, the Patriarchate of Constantinople does not exist. It existed in history, for me, since October 11, this patriarchy has not existed,” the Metropolitan said.
At the same time, Metropolitan Luke criticized the interference of politicians in the Russian Federation in the problem of the UOC.
“The trouble is that people who have absolutely no understanding of church issues are interfering [in the situation]. Was the patriarch present at this council (Russian Security Council headed by Vladimir Putin - Ed)? He was not there, he was here [in Minsk]. There was no one from the church there. I also read this news, and I don’t know what they can discuss there. Maybe they, as politicians, see something. But as a church person, I don’t know what politics can do. Only harm.
The Metropolitan also answered a question from journalists about what the Russian Orthodox Church would do if a Tomos of autocephaly for the Ukrainian Church, which would have already been formalized by that time, appears at a meeting of the Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople at the end of November.
“Look. A piece of paper appears, issued by the janitor of house number six, stating that he considers, relatively speaking, the city of Nsk to be an independent state. Will you accept this piece of paper? I have not known such a [Constantinople] Patriarchate since October 11, and everything that will be issued and decided there is already a piece of paper from the janitor Aunt Masha, and not from members of the Orthodox Church. They have fallen away, they are no longer in the church,” he noted.
The Zaporizhzhia Metropolitan refused to consider Constantinople a “Church”