Filaret: There is no “new Church” – The Tomos was given to the” Patriarchate of Kiev”

Filaretos Denyshenko

By Romfea.News

Instructions to his colleagues on how information about the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” and the “Patriarchate of Kiev” should be passed on to the Media were given by the honorary “Patriarch” Filaret Denyshenko, according to an audio documentation.

In the audio documentation, which is secured by the Union of Orthodox Journalists, the head of the “Patriarchate of Kiev” sounds to say that the Tomos was not given to the new “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”, but specifically to the “Patriarchate of Kiev”.

“The so-called ‘theologians’ began to say that the new Church has been created” – Filaret says ironically. -“What ‘new Church’? This Church is not new, it exists for more than 25 years,” says Filaretos.

Also, the Honorary Patriarch added: “And if this Church of the Patriarchate of Kiev did not exist, then who would take the Tomos? The two bishops of Moscow who have no parishes to supervise? Or an Autocephalous Church that has 500 parishes? It is clear that they gave the Tomos to the Patriarchate of Kiev! Therefore, it is not a new Church. So, this term, that it is a new Church, must be avoided and not used.”

Referring to the head of the publishing department of the “Patriarchate of Kiev”, Filaret gives the following instructions: “Eliminate the name ‘Orthodox Church of Ukraine’. This is not our name. We are the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Like the others: the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Serbian Orthodox Church. ‘The Orthodox Church in Ukraine’ means that this is not the dominant Church, but only one of the Churches in Ukraine. While we are the dominant Church in Ukraine.”

Filaret also addressed to the head of the official website of the “Patriarchate of Kiev” so that information about the new Church spreads in the “right” way: “Father Michael, you work there and you write on the Internet. So, in our own sources of information there must be no indication of the ‘Orthodox Church of Ukraine’. It should be mentioned as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, not the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”.