Metropolitan of Kykkos and Tillyria Nikiforos - The Ecclesial Crisis in Ukraine: and its Solution According to the Sacred Canons

Appreciation for the book.

It becomes manifestly clear that Metropolitan Nikiforos, in a spirit of the love of Christ, is deeply concerned for the necessary cooperation and concord among the Orthodox.

+TIMOTHEOS, Metropolitan of Bostra Patriarchate of Jerusalem

This situation in which we Orthodox have found ourselves is completely unnatural and does not serve the good of the Orthodox Church, rather it is contrary to it. We pray to the Almighty God and the Most-Holy Theotokos that this division ends quickly and Church order will reign again. We are pleased that writings such as this work by Metropolitan Nikiforos are working towards this correction.

+LONGIN, Bishop of New Gracanica and Midwestern America, Patriarchate of Serbia

This book addresses the many arguments and ways towards unity and the common Orthodox Church in Ukraine focused on serving God and His faithful. This lively analysis presents the situation of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine in an accessible way to both theologians, the faithful, and all people interested in the topic of the unity of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

+ABEL, Archbishop of Lublin and Chelm, Orthodox Church of Poland

This is a serious study of a crisis in the life of our Orthodox Church worldwide that deserves to be widely read as we seek to understand the underlying issues more clearly and find a conciliar solution that brings both unity and peace.

+JURAJ, Archbishop of Michalovce and Koice Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia

The
Ecclesial Crisis
in Ukraine

and its Solution According to
the Sacred Canons

B Y M ETROPOLITAN N IKIFOROS
OF K YKKOS AND T YLLIRIA , C YPRUS

Translated by Holy Trinity Monastery

H OLY T RINITY P UBLICATIONS
Holy Trinity Seminary Press
Holy Trinity Monastery
Jordanville, New York
2021

Printed with the blessing of His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

All rights reserved.
Authorized translation from the Greek language edition published by His Eminence Metropolitan of Kykkos and Tylliria Nikiforos, Cyprus. Translation copyright 2021 Holy Trinity Monastery.

https://www.holytrinitypublications.com/home

ISBN: 978-1-942699-41-5 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-942699-44-6 (ePub)
ISBN: 978-1-942699-45-3 (Mobi/Kindle)

Library of Congress Control Number 2021936699

Cover Photo: The Kiev Pechersk Lavra by tverkhovinets.
Source: stock.adobe.com. 53815043

New Testament Scripture passages taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. Psalms taken from: A Psalter for Prayer, trans. David James (Jordanville, N.Y.: Holy Trinity Publications, 2011).

Originally published in Greek:
(The Contemporary Ukraine Question and Its Solution According to the Divine and Sacred Canons by His Eminence Metropolitan of Kykkos and Tylliria Nikiforos, Cyprus) 2020
.. 28192, 2093 ,
ISBN: 978-9963-253-35-7

For Zions sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalems sake I will not rest, until my righteousness goes forth as light, and my salvation burns like a lamp. (Isaiah 62:1)

W e are thankful to God for the opportunity to give a voice in the English language to a Bishop of the ancient and venerable Church of Cyprus, founded by the apostle St Barnabas, co-worker of the apostle St Paul. Metropolitan Nikifoross words demand careful reading and attention: they have been penned in the context of the ongoing crisis set upon the Orthodox Church by the actions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate with regard to Ukraine in 2018. But even beyond addressing this, they speak to the heart of what it means to be the Body of Christ, and how we must relate one to another at all times. The Church must manifest both its hierarchical and conciliar aspects if the Gospel is to be preached to all nations as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ commanded.

As the Metropolitan writes, it is essential that the Ecclesiastical Conscience of all believers be aroused and an understanding gained of what is at issue in this dispute centered in Ukraine. This crisis is not as the secular media portray it, a question of the political aspirations of secular governments clashing over power and control. It is first and foremost an ecclesial crisis whose remedy must lie with repentance: a turning around from where our sins have led us to a reaffirmation of mutual love and submission one to another. We must constantly remain mindful that in the Kingdom of Christ the last will be first, and the first last (Matthew 20:16).

We commend this work to your prayerful and attentive reading.

Holy Trinity Monastery
Great Lent 2021

The Synaxis of Primates of the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches that took place at the Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambsy, Geneva from 2128 January 2016. His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is seen seated in the middle of the front row. One row behind him, two places to his right and wearing a white hat is Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine, universally recognized at this time as the canonical head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Less than three years after this, the eumenical patriarch would unilaterally set up an alternative ecclesiastical structure in Ukraine based around two groups that up until then were considered schismatic by all the churches gathered in Chambsy in 2016.

Source: Photo. 4355986 Patriarchia.ru; http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/4355986.html

His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, The Synaxis of Primates of the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches, Chambsy, Geneva, 2128 January 2016.

http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/4355986.html

Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine, The Synaxis of Primates of the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches, Chambsy, Geneva, 2128 January 2016.

http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/4355986.html

N o one can deny the fact that the universal Orthodox Church currently finds herself in a state of divisive crisis due to the Ukrainian ecclesiastical issue, which was created by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinoples unilateral and anti-canonical grant of autocephaly to schismatic elements of the Ukrainian Church, without the knowledge of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate, which is the Mother Church of the Orthodox ecclesiastical eparchy in Ukraine. In recent years, the Ukrainian issue has been at the center of contemporary Orthodox concerns, with endless discussions, arguments, and counter-arguments from both sides, a fact which is causing fissures in the unity of the pan-Orthodox Church.

For the last few months I have been debating whether I should remain immersed in my silence, or write and express my anguish and opinion on this burning topic.