The head of the Russian Orthodox Church on Tuesday urged a breakaway group in Ukraine to reunite with the powerful Moscow patriarchate, reaffirming his rejection of allowing an independent church in Kyiv.
After leading prayers marking the 1,021st anniversary of the eastern Slavs’ conversion to Christianity, Patriarch Kirill exhorted adherents of the breakaway church to “return to the father’s house and unite with us.”
“Not all our of brothers of the same faith share this holiday today,” Kirill said. “Some find themselves outside the church’s saving fence, outside its precious unity.”
Ukraine’s pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko is leading a campaign to win recognition of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kyiv Patriarchate, which broke away from the Moscow Patriarchate in the 1990s, as a legitimate church which would not answer to Moscow.
He has sought backing from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the word’s 250 million Orthodox, but has not gotten a clear response.
The Moscow Patriarchate and Kremlin leaders strongly oppose those efforts, seeking to retain religious and political influence over the ex-Soviet republic of 46 million.
Kirill, who took over leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church this year and is seen as more reform-oriented than his predecessor Alexy II, met with Yushchenko on Monday.
Yushchenko again called for forming a self-governing church in Ukraine, but Kirill was quick to dismiss that idea.
Patriarch Philaret, leader of the breakaway church, dismissed Kirill’s statement, saying Ukraine deserves to have its own church, according to the Unian news agency.
“We in Ukraine need to have our own self-governing Orthodox Church,” he was quoted as saying. “Everything that is built on non-truth will sooner or later be destroyed, because God only has so much patience.”
Yushchenko’s fierce rival Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who seeks integration with the West but also balanced relations with Moscow, was more cautious.
Tymoshenko, who met with Kirill late last night said in a statement Tuesday that she would pray that God sends “organizational unity” to all of the Orthodox churches in Ukraine.
As Kirill took part in preyers in events Tuesday, nationalist activists who protested his visit and Kirill’s supporters held competing rallies in various parts of town.
