Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus made a pithy statement on the church issue of Ukraine, who celebrated at the Cathedral of Saint Ioannis the Theologian in Nicosia with Metropolitan Sergius of Ternopil and Kremenets from Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate under Metropolitan Onufriy.
As the CyBC reported, the Archbishop revealed, “I told Onufriy to meet Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and ask him to grant Ukrainian Church autocephaly status with Onufriy being the primate, and Kirill will be written down in history as the Great Patriarch of Faith.”
Archbishop Chrysostomos reiterated that he had taken mediatory action and kept in touch with other Churches, but, as he said, “the Ecumenical Patriarch expressed his dissatisfaction and drew back.” Finally, he argued that other Churches could not do so (editor’s note: take mediatory action) due to financial problems.”
The statement made by Archbishop Chrysostomos seems to question the centuries-old prerogative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to grant an Autocephaly Tomos. Moreover, it is noted that this statement contradicts another made a few days ago, when the Archbishop of Cyprus said to the Patriarch of Moscow, “You will never be the first. Over the past 17 centuries, the Patriarch of Constantinople has been established as first among all Eastern Orthodox primates. Full stop. You must not turn a blind eye. You must understand it. But selfishness does not let him see clearly.”
Source: aviketos.com