By Romfea.news
Metropolitan Ioane of Rustavi of the Patriarchate of Georgia spoke about the church issue in Ukraine.
The Honorable Metropolitan said among other things, “I thank God because the high-ranking people of the current Georgian government have given us an example of political correctness regarding that acute problem that has arisen within the Orthodox Church because of the developments in Ukraine”.
Also, Ioane stressed that “the three-year military confrontation between Ukrainian regions should not be transformed into a religious confrontation of the denomination.”
“The common concern of the Orthodox Church is to preserve the unity of the denomination. Interventions and private placements by politically dependent people complicate the sober position. We shouldn’t forget that the regular domain of the Orthodox Church was formed between the 4th and the 8th century by Ecumenical and Local Councils,” added the Prelate of the Church of Ukraine.
The Eminence also said: “The definitions of these Councils about the treatment of the groups of the schismatics and the persons excommunicated by the Church and the rules for their reintegration into the Church, were clear. These rules are based on the Holy Gospel and Apostolic Tradition. ”
“Prelates of the Orthodox Church around the globe remember that in the 1990s they themselves valued negatively the arbitrary secession of the former exarch of Ukraine, Metropolitan Filaret, from the Mother Church. Nevertheless, this time, the Patriarchate of Constantinople decided arbitrarily and unilaterally to grant the status of an Autocephalous Church to priests who belong to a schismatic group,” Metropolitan Ioane added.
The Eminence emphasized too that “the principle of unity of the Orthodox Church is not the authoritarian, papal authority, but synodal decisons, which are reflected on ‘The Creed: The Symbol of Faith’.”
“At the same time, it should be noted that the terms of the Tomos of Autocephaly in Ukraine by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, dated January 6, 2019, correspond more to an autonomous status. In addition, the Tomos conceals the fact that the majority of Orthodox Ukrainians remains under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Moscow and, therefore, represents a part of the congregation of the Orthodox Church,” Ioane said.
Finally, the Metropolitan of Rustavi stressed: “That is why we have the principles of law and economy as our guiding principle, so that the spirit of schism will not prevail within us. So, let us pray for the restoration of the unity of the Ukrainian people.”