By Kostas Onisenko
Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine considers that there are four Local Churches close to the recognition of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
In fact, in an interview on the Ukrainian website Liga.net, Epifaniy names these Churches. These are in particular the Churches of Romania, Georgia, Bulgaria, and Albania.
Epifaniy believes that the visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew may help speed up the process of recognition by these Churches: “This is a sign, first of all, that Ukraine is under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Church. The Ecumenical Patriarch comes to us as a co-brother. He is first among equals.
He comes at the invitation of the Ukrainian state and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In the territory to which it belongs -by religious rules- in the Ukrainian Church. That is why the Russian Church is protesting.
Possibly this (the visit) will give impetus for recognition by other Churches as well. Many of them have, in fact, already decided. But it takes time, “said the head of the Ukrainian Church.
Already, after the concession of the Tomos of Autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch, the Ukrainian Church has been recognized, apart from the Ecumenical Patriarchate itself, by the Greek Church, the Church of Cyprus, and the Patriarchate of Alexandria.