Other Churches will recognize the Autocephalous Church in Ukraine

ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW OF THE IRON CHURCH: OTHER CHURCHES WILL RECOGNIZE THE AUTOCEPHALOUS CHURCH IN UKRAINE

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew hosted the Sunday Holy Liturgy on December 5, celebrated in the Bulgarian church “St. Stefan ”in the Balat district of Istanbul.

The reason is the renovation of the holy throne and the whole holy altar, as well as the installation of new proskinitarians and utensils in the temple. The service was attended by the Consul General of Bulgaria in Istanbul Vasil Valchev, the President of the Bulgarian Community Vasil Lyaze, guests from Bulgaria and locals.

In his speech, the patriarch spoke about the constant interest and care of the Mother Church for all her spiritual children in Istanbul.

“All Orthodox Christians in the City, regardless of their national and linguistic origin and identity, are spiritual children of the Holy Archbishopric of Constantinople or the respective dioceses, an unwavering guardian of the patriarchal heritage, intact faith in Christ, canonical and liturgical traditions, in Christ and the testimony before the world. The basis for the unity of the Church, as Metropolitan John of Pergamum, professor and lecturer, writes, is the geographical area: all who live in a certain place, regardless of their ethnic origin, belong ecclesiastically to the bishop of that area.

This is the Orthodox tradition, a consequence of the Eucharistic ecclesiology, on the principle of Catholicism of the local church community, regardless of ethnic and linguistic associations, led by an upcoming Eucharistic assembly – the bishop. This is what the sacred canons of the Church say, in which we find “not a trace of nationalism” (Maximus, Metropolitan of Sardis, Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Orthodox Church, Thessaloniki, 1989).

 “The Council of Crete paid special attention to the efforts to achieve justice and peace, to protect the sanctity of the human person, the Christian family and the education of the young generation in the Christian spirit. He also drew attention to religious fundamentalism and “violence in the name of God,” emphasizing that “the oil of religious life should be used to heal wounds, not to kindle fires and engage in military conflict.”

This is the spirit of the Holy and Great Church of Christ. Our humility strives to spread this spirit of unity, cooperation, dialogue, protection of human rights and respect for the inviolability of creation. And we are convinced that these church initiatives and activities contribute to the strengthening of peace and understanding, of love and justice. It is rightly said that there can be no peace between nations without peace between religions, which is achieved through dialogue between them. “

Patriarch Bartholomew then spoke about granting autocephalous status to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine:

 “According to the canonical traditions of the Church, the achievement of ecclesiastical peace was the goal of granting autocephaly to a long-suffering Ukraine, so that that church could live in peace and harmony and contribute to peace and reconciliation in the world. If it is God’s will, those Orthodox churches that have not yet joined and harmonized with the act of the Mother Church on Ukrainian autocephaly will do so for the glory of God and for the creation of His body, in the service of the Orthodox canonical order and centuries-old ecclesiastical a work that is our duty if we are to be faithful to our faith and to the holy fathers. ”

His Holiness Bartholomew then thanked Archimandrite. Haralampi (Nichev) for “his impeccable service, faithfulness and respect for the Great Church”, Vasil Lyaze and his associates, as well as the donor Todor Georgiev for “his noble donation for the renovation of the Holy See and other parts of the Holy Altar, the analogy , the icons and the holy utensils of the church “St. Stephen, “which we blessed at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy.”

For his part, Archbishop Andrit Haralampi said that the renovation of the temple was in honor of the thirtieth anniversary of the enthronement of Patriarch Bartholomew of the Cathedral of Constantinople.

Patriarch Bartholomew presented commemorative gifts to the Bulgarian consul, the chairman of the Bulgarian community and the donors who helped renovate and beautify the three temples of the Bulgarian community in Istanbul.

Photo: Fos Fanariu.