Controversial decision by Romanian Patriarchate on Ukraine

by Efi Efthimiou

The Romanian Patriarchate is creating a new religious structure within the borders of Ukraine.

Specifically, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Patriarchate, which met last week, decided to “encourage and support the initiatives of the Romanian Orthodox communities in Ukraine to re-establish communion with the Mother Church – the Romanian Patriarchate – through their legal organization, in a religious structure called the Romanian Orthodox Church in Romania”.

This is a highly controversial decision, as on the territory of Ukraine there is the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which has been granted autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under Metropolitan Onufriy, which is administratively under the Moscow Patriarchate.

This decision by the Romanians has caused surprise, as it was taken without any prior communication between the Romanian Church and the Churches operating on Ukrainian territory, and shows an attempt to “interfere” in Ukrainian jurisdiction, at a time when, after so many years, the Romanian Patriarchate has not recognized the official, autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine under Metropolitan Epifaniy.

It also raises the question of whether it will do the same in other countries under whose jurisdiction Romanian Orthodox communities exist.

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine responded through its representative, Bishop Viktor Bent of Mukachevo and the Carpathians, who spoke on his personal social media account of provocative actions against the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Ukraine, and world Orthodoxy.

He added, “the adoption of such a discrediting and provocative decision against Ukraine and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, especially amid the 2014-2024 Russian-Ukrainian war, testifies to the great influence on the Romanian political authorities and the hierarchy of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the structures of the FSB (Russia’s secret service) and the Moscow Patriarchate”.

According to Bishop Mukasevo, “It becomes clear why the Romanian Orthodox Church has avoided official recognition of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine”.

He adds: “It is unfortunate, but this negative event testifies to Ukraine’s defeat on the international information front by Putin’s Russian propaganda, as well as to the inability of Ukrainian diplomacy to protect national interests and especially religious security at the international level”.

Read below the statement of the Romanian Patriarchate

The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church met for a working session at Patriarch Teoctist Aula of the Patriarchal Palace on Thursday, February 29, 2024. The meeting was chaired by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel.

The Holy Synod resolved the following:

1. To declare 2025 as a Solemn Year of the Centennial of the Romanian Patriarchate and a Commemorative Year of the Romanian Orthodox spiritual fathers and confessors of the 20th century.
2. To establish the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Great Britain, based in London, to serve the over 1 million Romanian Orthodox believers in this part of Western Europe.
3. To establish the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Ireland and Iceland, based in Dublin.
4. To recall the position of the Romanian Orthodox Church towards political life and electoral campaigns in the context of the 2024 election year, in the sense of the non-involvement of the Church in party politics, because, according to Article 7 paragraph 1 of Law no. 489/2006 on religious freedom and the general regime of religious denominations, the recognized religious denominations are factors of social peace and any attitude of public hostility in society, of political partisanship, of attacking the person or straining relations with the public authorities are contrary to the spiritual mission of the Church in society.
5. To approve the volumes for December and January of the Synodal Synaxarion of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
6. To approve the Akathist to the Holy Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian of Asia Minor (November 1).
7. To approve the Akathist to Saint Gerasimos of Kefalonia (October 20).
8. To approve the Akathist to the Holy Unmercenaries Cyrus and John (January 31, June 28).
9. Organize a fundraising campaign between March 1 and March 1, 2024, to assist in the construction of housing for Nagorno-Karabagh-region Armenian refugees in Armenia.
10. Recall that through the Financial Control and Audit Body of dioceses, metropolises, and the Romanian Patriarchate, the church authority verifies the financial and patrimonial statements of parishes, dioceses, and metropolises. If deficiencies are found, it adopts measures to remedy them, for whose correct application the Metropolitan Synod and the Permanent Synod are responsible; the respective Financial Control and Audit Bodies must be staffed with experienced specialists (economists and financial auditors) who are characterized by fairness, professionalism, and fidelity to the Church.
11. To bless, encourage, and support the initiatives of Romanian Orthodox communities in Ukraine to re-establish communion with the Mother Church – the Romanian Patriarchate – through their legal organization in a religious structure called the Romanian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
12. To reaffirm that all Romanian Orthodox clerics and their flocks from the Republic of Moldova who return to the Metropolis of Bessarabia are canonical clerics and blessed believers, and any disciplinary sanction directed against them on the grounds of their membership of the Romanian Orthodox Church is considered null and void, according to synod decision no—8090 of December 19, 1992.
13. To express appreciation for the rich social-philanthropic activity of the Romanian Orthodox Church during the year 2023, which produced visible positive effects in Romanian society.

Photography courtesy of Basilica.ro Files
Translated by Ioanna Georgakopoulou