“The Church of Greece has decided freely and without haste for the Autocephaly of the Church of Ukraine”

The Standing Holy Synod emphasized in a statement that any view that opposes the synodical decision of the Church of Greece to recognize the autocephaly of the Church of Ukraine is untimely, incongruous and “sly”.

There was an immediate response of the Standing Holy Synod to Panos Kammenos’ s statements on the responsibility of the Church and Archbishop Ieronymos to any geopolitical change in the region after the recognition of the autocephaly of the Church of Ukraine.

The Holy Synod with a harsh announcement stresses that the decision to accept the proclamation by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Autocephalous Church of Ukraine was made without haste and synodically, based on Ecclesiastical Canons and not on nationalist trends or other interventions.

It further emphasizes that “our Holy Church fully and substantially respects the freedom and responsibility of each individual, the human rights of the citizens of each country, and the religious ‘belief’ of the faithful of all the Christian Churches of the same denomination, and always wishes ‘for the peace of the whole world’.”

As it also says in its statement, “any other viewpoint, wording and reference to this particular issue is untimely, incongruous, and based entirely on “sly inentions”.