Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew delivered a speech with messages to multiple recipients from Kyiv, Ukraine, where he is paying an official visit.
During the official dinner that followed the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy which he performed outdoors in Hagia Sophia in Kyiv along with the Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew spoke about a historical moment.
“This day is historic because we all celebrate the independence of Ukraine and the independence of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine at the same time.
My visit and the concelebration of the Divine Liturgy with the Metropolitan Epifaniy underline the Autocephaly, the independence of the Church of Ukraine.
We owe both to the providence and goodness of God. However, the Autocephaly of the Church of Ukraine is also largely due to the Mother Church of Constantinople, which has never stopped loving and caring for you.
The Ukrainian people are a noble and proud people, and they do not want to and cannot live under a yoke. That is why the people wanted its independence until they gained it. And they wanted their independent local Church, which they also acquired by the grace of God.”
As the Ecumenical Patriarch stressed in his speech earlier, he underlined the rights and privileges of Constantinople.
“Perhaps some here and elsewhere have said, ‘But today was the day for Bartholomew to speak again of his privileges and his rights?’ We speak about them because some people forget them or want to forget them.
We remind them that the Mother Church did not receive the privileges and rights of the First Throne Mother Church on its own, however, they were granted by the Ecumenical Councils. Without them, I say, Orthodoxy cannot stand.
We will be a broken family. We will not even be a family. We will be a lawless place. When the Orthodox are going to meet and discuss their problems, because they have problems, they have visions, they must have plans and visions for the future of Orthodoxy, who will convene them, who will chair and lead the discussions?
They wanted to undermine and discredit the Holy and Great Council of Crete, which we all decided to convene together until the last moment.
By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church took place.
And those who are exposed and ashamed are those who did not come, who tried to undermine it and cancel it,” the Ecumenical Patriarch concluded.