The letter that Patriarch Filaret, the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), sent to the Bishop’s Council of the Russian Orthodox Church has become a pretext for the exchange of pronouncements and propaganda. But the reactions of the Orthodox and non-Orthodox communities to the very existence of this letter may conceal what is most essential: for the first time since the declaration of the independence of the UOC-KP, its head has officially appealed to the Bishop’s Council of the Russian Orthodox Church with a proposal for a dialogue, and this proposal was not only considered but also given a positive response.
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The Filaret (C), Patriarch of Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv patriarchate with priests attends a religion march marking the 1029th anniversary of Kievan Rus Christianization organized by Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv patriarchate on July 28.
