UOC KP “bishop”: OCU hierarchs do not deem the Synod plenipotentiary

Session of the OCU "Synod"

"Bishop" of the UOC KP / OCU Adrian Kulik shared in social networks the opinion of the OCU "hierarchs" who believe that the Synod held the other day was just a "rehearsal". He wrote about this on his Facebook page, which he later deleted. However, the UOJ has got a screenshot of the publication.

Making a reservation that he does not express the official opinion of the OCU, Adrian Kulik refers to the “thoughts, emotions, judgments” that they shared among themselves.

He also notes that the UOC KP owes its “unity in the past” to the “dictatorship of Filaret”.

“I can only share the opinion of the OCU hierarchs. Despite the fact that Filaret with his synod (the synod of the former KP) decided to brazenly enter the newly created OCU, in fact it was the synod of Filaret, with the addition of three votes combined from the rest of the Churches.

So, in order not to be wordy, I want to say that the hierarchs of the OCU do not consider the synod of February 5 to be plenipotentiary but simply its rehearsal,” wrote Kulik.

Screenshot of Adrian Kulik's publication

Apart from Kulik, other “hierarchs” of the OCU, in particular Mikhail Zinkevich, also declared that the status of the Synod of the OCU was not recognized at the meeting held on February 5.

“I have no idea what that meeting was like on February 5. Bishop Simeon told me there would be a meeting ("Bishop of Dnepropetrovsk and Krivoy Rog" Simeon Zinkevich, – Ed.), said indignantly “metropolitan” Mikhail Zinkevich. “There is legislation, there is a church statute, there is Tomos from only two months and according to which we must live. Everything else is not canonical, wrong, has no legal capacity.”

As the UOJ reported, at the first meeting of the OCU Synod, held on February 5, it was decided to reserve for Filaret Denisenko the management of the Kiev “diocese” with the parishes and monasteries of Kiev except for St. Michael’s Golden-domed Monastery.

Eleven representatives of the new church organization took part in the “Synod”, including “honorary patriarch” Filaret Denisenko, who, due to illness, missed the enthronement of the newly elected “primate” Epiphany Dumenko.

“Bishop” Adrian Kulik has been the head of the parish of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious of the UOC KP in Khmelnitsky since 2013. He was ordained in the UAOC, later moved to the USA, where he was accepted under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church in America, and a year later – under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church of North and South America and the Diaspora. Two years later, the “bishop” decided to return to the jurisdiction of the UAOC, where he had an ambiguous status and was eventually re-ordained as a bishop of Khmelnitsky and Kamenets-Podolsky. In 2013, according to the submitted application, he was admitted to the UOC KP.

Read also

In Ukraine, Trump’s 'spiritual advisor' reassured of religious freedom

Pastor Mark Burns stated that Ukraine, despite the war, is a "beacon of religious freedom."

Lavra brethren congratulate Metropolitan Pavel on 31 years as abbot

The monks of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra have expressed hope that they will soon be able to pray again with their abbot.

Amsterdam: Intrusion into Lavra Caves – a return to Soviet-era persecution

International lawyer Robert Amsterdam has condemned the actions of Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture regarding the inspection of holy relics in the Caves of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, calling it a violation of religious freedom.

Over 20 EU states condemn Hungary for ban on LGBT propaganda among children

“This restricts the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression,” diplomats state in a joint declaration.

His Beatitude officiates consecration of Bishop of Rakhiv

At the Church of St. Agapitus in the Lavra, the Primate of the UOC ordained a vicar for the Khust Eparchy.

Met Victor: It is painful to see Lavra's relics turned into test subjects

According to the bishop, there is particular concern over how members of the scientific commission will handle the holy relics.