|
Click on the dropdown button to translate. Translate this page: |
|
|
History of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
(Canonical/True Church of 1942)
A Fight for Survival in Russia & the Ukraine
~ Freedom to Grow in the Americas ~
~ Spiritual Forefathers of the Orthodox Church of America ~
~ Spiritually Home within the Catholic Orthodox Apostolic Church ~
(Canonical/True Church of 1942)
A Fight for Survival in Russia & the Ukraine
~ Freedom to Grow in the Americas ~
~ Spiritual Forefathers of the Orthodox Church of America ~
~ Spiritually Home within the Catholic Orthodox Apostolic Church ~
1944 Holy Synod, Poland
|
1947 Holy Synod, Germany
|
1980 Holy Synod, Chicago
|
Our Canonical and Historical Heritage
Blood, Betrayal & Victory in Christ!
Blood, Betrayal & Victory in Christ!
Patriarch +MSTYSLAV with Ecumenical Patriarch +BARTHOLOMEW
The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church is the successor of the Kyivan Metropolitanate, founded after christening of Kyiv Rus in 988 under Saint Prince Volodymyr Grand. The territory of today's Ukraine, Byelorussia, Baltic countries, part of Poland, Smolensk region (Russia) belonged to the Kyiv Metropolitanate. The Kyiv Metropolitanate was a component part of the Constantinople Patriarchate from 988 to 1686 when it was illegally, not according to the terms of church canons withdrawn from Constantinople, became part of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople still does not recognize this joining today!
Up to joining of the Kyiv Metropolitanate to the Moscow Patriarchate, in the time of Kyiv Metropolitan +PETRO (Mohyla), the Kyiv Metropoliatanate enjoyed the rights of wide autonomy and the question about establishing the Kyiv Patriarchate was also raised at that time. But this intention was not realized because of the fact that in 1654 in the time of +BOHDAN (Khmelnitsky), Ukraine was gradually joined to Russia.
At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, together with the struggle for the Ukrainian statehood, the movement for the autocephality of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church begun. During the World War II, the rebirth of the canonical branch of UAOC took place. It received the Autonomy from +DIONISIY (Valedynskyi), the Metropolitan of the Polish Orthodox Church, which in 1924 received the status of autocephality with the issuance of the TOMOS from His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch +GREGORIOS VII (Zervpidalos).
Metropolitan +DIONIDIY was elevated into the dignity of Bishop in 1913 by His Holiness +GREGORIOS IV (Haddad), the Patriarch of Antioch, who had the Apostolic Succession in the lineage of the first Apostle, Saint Peter.
In 1932, Metropolitan +DIONOSIY ordained Metropolitan +POLIKARP (Sikorskyi) and in 1942 appointed him to the Church occupied by the fascists Ukraine for the renewing of the UAOC and ordination of new bishops. Thus, all the hierarchy of the UAOC in 1942 received canonical consecrations as Bishops in the lineage of Apostle Peter. Among those consecrated as Bishops was our first Patriarch, His Holiness +MSTYSLAV (Skrypnyk) and Metropolitan +HRYHORIY (Ohiychuk), from who comes the Canonical and Apostolic Succession of our present Primate of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the United States, His Beatitude +AMVROSIJ (Dolgorouky).
His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch +BARTHOLOMEW I recognizes the canonicity of the UAOC. The evidence of that fact is the taking under his Omophorion the Bishops and clergy of the UAOC in the United States & Canada and retaining their positions as Hierarchs!
After the end of the World War II in 1945, the UAOC in Ukraine was liquidated by the Soviet power. Some Bishops and clergy of the UAOC were delivered to the German concentration camps and some managed to emigrate to Europe and America, where they continued their church life and built the churches of UAOC. (see the Ukrainian history & influence in the SEC page) In 1990, after the celebration of the 1000th Anniversary of Rus-Ukraine Christening in Ukraine, the new movement for rebirth of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church began. It was initiated by Metropolitan +JOHN (Bondarchuk) in the Central Ukraine.
On the 5-6th of June, 1990, the All-Ukrainian Orthodox Council was held in Kyiv where more than 700 delegates from the whole Ukraine took part, among them there were 7 bishops and more than 200 priests. The Council declared the fact of establishing the UAOC and elected Metropolitan +MSTYSLAV (Skrypnyk), who had Apostolic Succession from the Polish Orthodox Church, to be the First Patriarch of Kyiv and all Ukraine.
On the 2nd of October, 1990 the authorities of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic registered the UAOC in the official order. On the 18th of November, 1990 in St. Sophia's Cathedral Metropolitan +MSTYSLAV was enthroned as Patriarch of Kyiv and all Ukraine.
Since that time, Patriarch +MSTYSLAV (Skrypnyk) has not only become the first Patriarch but he united the UAOC in Ukraine with the UOC in the USA and the Diaspora that had the Apostolic Succession from the Polish Orthodox Church. Since that time the higher orders of clergy and priesthood of the UOC in the USA began to come to Ukraine, officiate in Ukrainian temples & take part in ordaining the priests. Patriarch +MSTYSLAV, together with the Bishop of Washington +ANTONIY Shcherba ) consecrated +ANTONIY (Fialko) as Bishop of Khmelnitsk and +PANTELEYMON as Bishop of Dnipropetrovsk, but those canonically ordained Bishops were lured away by the Russian Orthodox Church that left had departed from the UAOC in Ukraine without the canonical Bishops but with the anathematized +FILARET (Denysenko), the former Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church. +FILARET had been anathematized by Patriarch +MSTYSLAV.
Since that time the canonical Apostolic Succession in the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church disappeared.
On the 25th -26th of June, 1992, in Kyiv, at the residence of Metropolitan +FILARET, the betrayal of the UAOC on the part of the Metropolitan administrator +ANTONY (Masendych) took place. He acted behind the back of Patriarch +MSTYSLAV and all the clergy. The monetary bribes from +FILARET seduced +ANTONY into supporting the initiative of President Leonid Kravchuk for the lie of a "false union" between the UAOC and Russian Orthodox Church. Having accomplished their task in this combination to absorb the UAOC, it proved out to be worthless in +FILARET's quest to became a "patriarch" in his illegally founded organization under the name of UOC KP (Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Kyivan Patriarchate). The betrayal of +ANTONY Masendych and our second Patriarch, His Holiness +VOLODMYR (Romaniuk) cost them their lives.
Our first Patriarch of the UAOC, +MSTYSLAV (Skrypnyk), did not accept this treason of the UAOC and appealed to the Ukrainian higher authorities and believers of the UAOC not to acknowledge this unification and to oppose this betrayal. But the higher authorities of Ukraine supported the anathematized +FILARET (Denysenko) and illegally handed down all the church property under the UAOC to him!
On the 11th of June, 1993, the Patriarch of Kyiv and all Ukraine +MSTYSLAV died. Before his death, the Patriarch considering himself and the UAOC betrayed, declared in his Last Will & Testamant, that the UAOC could not have any relationship with the former Metropolitan of the ROC +FILARET (Denysenko) who was defrocked by his Mother Church! 20th of October, 1993, was the date, appointed by +FILARET's so-called "Synod", for summoning of the UOC KP Council with the aim of electing the Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus-Ukraine. But despite all the energies of +FILARET to become a "patriarch", he wasn't elected. The new Patriarch was +VOLODMYR (Romaniuk) and this contributed to greater conflict between +VOLODMYR and +FILARET.
On the 14th of July, 1995, Patriarch +VOLODMYR (Romaniuk) was killed since he had already fulfilled his function with the cover-up for +FILARET. The funeral of His Holiness +VOLODOMYR (Romaniuk) was very tragic. History, probably does not know such humiliation over a funeral procession, as even here +FILARET provoked the law-enforcement agencies into initiating the bloody conflict, trying to make his way towards the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv with the help of overturning the coffin in the street...of His Holiness the Patriarch!
It must be noted that at about the same time of 1992 in the Ukraine, there were many believers seeking reform and revival of primitive Christianity...a return to authentic Orthodoxy.
In 1995, the then Patriarch of Kyiv and All Ukraine +VOLODOMYR (Romaniuk) Volodymyr and Father Gleb (Yakunin) discussed the possibility of execution in any form, including "alternative Orthodoxy", which came out of the catacombs, published a book in Kiev "TRUE FACE MP".
In 1995, at the Cathedral in Kiev, led by Patriarch +VOLODOMYR (Romaniuk), was ordained Bishop +METHODIUS (Kudriakov), destined to confirm the line of the valid Apostolic Succession in the COAC Synod and eventual restoration of the "Third Rome"...the Canonical Apostolic Orthodox Church later named by the Holy Synod in Moscow in October 2018 as the Catholic Orthodox Apostolic Church...
In 2018, the Ecumenical Patriarchate declared that it recognized the sacraments as performed by the UOC-KP (Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate) and UAOC (Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church) as valid. It was further stated from this meeting that "when there is some talk about the non-canonicity of the Holy Sacraments celebrated by the clergy of these churches, the Holy Mother Church has answered. These Sacraments and clerical actions are canonical."
Up to joining of the Kyiv Metropolitanate to the Moscow Patriarchate, in the time of Kyiv Metropolitan +PETRO (Mohyla), the Kyiv Metropoliatanate enjoyed the rights of wide autonomy and the question about establishing the Kyiv Patriarchate was also raised at that time. But this intention was not realized because of the fact that in 1654 in the time of +BOHDAN (Khmelnitsky), Ukraine was gradually joined to Russia.
At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, together with the struggle for the Ukrainian statehood, the movement for the autocephality of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church begun. During the World War II, the rebirth of the canonical branch of UAOC took place. It received the Autonomy from +DIONISIY (Valedynskyi), the Metropolitan of the Polish Orthodox Church, which in 1924 received the status of autocephality with the issuance of the TOMOS from His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch +GREGORIOS VII (Zervpidalos).
Metropolitan +DIONIDIY was elevated into the dignity of Bishop in 1913 by His Holiness +GREGORIOS IV (Haddad), the Patriarch of Antioch, who had the Apostolic Succession in the lineage of the first Apostle, Saint Peter.
In 1932, Metropolitan +DIONOSIY ordained Metropolitan +POLIKARP (Sikorskyi) and in 1942 appointed him to the Church occupied by the fascists Ukraine for the renewing of the UAOC and ordination of new bishops. Thus, all the hierarchy of the UAOC in 1942 received canonical consecrations as Bishops in the lineage of Apostle Peter. Among those consecrated as Bishops was our first Patriarch, His Holiness +MSTYSLAV (Skrypnyk) and Metropolitan +HRYHORIY (Ohiychuk), from who comes the Canonical and Apostolic Succession of our present Primate of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the United States, His Beatitude +AMVROSIJ (Dolgorouky).
His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch +BARTHOLOMEW I recognizes the canonicity of the UAOC. The evidence of that fact is the taking under his Omophorion the Bishops and clergy of the UAOC in the United States & Canada and retaining their positions as Hierarchs!
After the end of the World War II in 1945, the UAOC in Ukraine was liquidated by the Soviet power. Some Bishops and clergy of the UAOC were delivered to the German concentration camps and some managed to emigrate to Europe and America, where they continued their church life and built the churches of UAOC. (see the Ukrainian history & influence in the SEC page) In 1990, after the celebration of the 1000th Anniversary of Rus-Ukraine Christening in Ukraine, the new movement for rebirth of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church began. It was initiated by Metropolitan +JOHN (Bondarchuk) in the Central Ukraine.
On the 5-6th of June, 1990, the All-Ukrainian Orthodox Council was held in Kyiv where more than 700 delegates from the whole Ukraine took part, among them there were 7 bishops and more than 200 priests. The Council declared the fact of establishing the UAOC and elected Metropolitan +MSTYSLAV (Skrypnyk), who had Apostolic Succession from the Polish Orthodox Church, to be the First Patriarch of Kyiv and all Ukraine.
On the 2nd of October, 1990 the authorities of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic registered the UAOC in the official order. On the 18th of November, 1990 in St. Sophia's Cathedral Metropolitan +MSTYSLAV was enthroned as Patriarch of Kyiv and all Ukraine.
Since that time, Patriarch +MSTYSLAV (Skrypnyk) has not only become the first Patriarch but he united the UAOC in Ukraine with the UOC in the USA and the Diaspora that had the Apostolic Succession from the Polish Orthodox Church. Since that time the higher orders of clergy and priesthood of the UOC in the USA began to come to Ukraine, officiate in Ukrainian temples & take part in ordaining the priests. Patriarch +MSTYSLAV, together with the Bishop of Washington +ANTONIY Shcherba ) consecrated +ANTONIY (Fialko) as Bishop of Khmelnitsk and +PANTELEYMON as Bishop of Dnipropetrovsk, but those canonically ordained Bishops were lured away by the Russian Orthodox Church that left had departed from the UAOC in Ukraine without the canonical Bishops but with the anathematized +FILARET (Denysenko), the former Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church. +FILARET had been anathematized by Patriarch +MSTYSLAV.
Since that time the canonical Apostolic Succession in the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church disappeared.
On the 25th -26th of June, 1992, in Kyiv, at the residence of Metropolitan +FILARET, the betrayal of the UAOC on the part of the Metropolitan administrator +ANTONY (Masendych) took place. He acted behind the back of Patriarch +MSTYSLAV and all the clergy. The monetary bribes from +FILARET seduced +ANTONY into supporting the initiative of President Leonid Kravchuk for the lie of a "false union" between the UAOC and Russian Orthodox Church. Having accomplished their task in this combination to absorb the UAOC, it proved out to be worthless in +FILARET's quest to became a "patriarch" in his illegally founded organization under the name of UOC KP (Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Kyivan Patriarchate). The betrayal of +ANTONY Masendych and our second Patriarch, His Holiness +VOLODMYR (Romaniuk) cost them their lives.
Our first Patriarch of the UAOC, +MSTYSLAV (Skrypnyk), did not accept this treason of the UAOC and appealed to the Ukrainian higher authorities and believers of the UAOC not to acknowledge this unification and to oppose this betrayal. But the higher authorities of Ukraine supported the anathematized +FILARET (Denysenko) and illegally handed down all the church property under the UAOC to him!
On the 11th of June, 1993, the Patriarch of Kyiv and all Ukraine +MSTYSLAV died. Before his death, the Patriarch considering himself and the UAOC betrayed, declared in his Last Will & Testamant, that the UAOC could not have any relationship with the former Metropolitan of the ROC +FILARET (Denysenko) who was defrocked by his Mother Church! 20th of October, 1993, was the date, appointed by +FILARET's so-called "Synod", for summoning of the UOC KP Council with the aim of electing the Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus-Ukraine. But despite all the energies of +FILARET to become a "patriarch", he wasn't elected. The new Patriarch was +VOLODMYR (Romaniuk) and this contributed to greater conflict between +VOLODMYR and +FILARET.
On the 14th of July, 1995, Patriarch +VOLODMYR (Romaniuk) was killed since he had already fulfilled his function with the cover-up for +FILARET. The funeral of His Holiness +VOLODOMYR (Romaniuk) was very tragic. History, probably does not know such humiliation over a funeral procession, as even here +FILARET provoked the law-enforcement agencies into initiating the bloody conflict, trying to make his way towards the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv with the help of overturning the coffin in the street...of His Holiness the Patriarch!
It must be noted that at about the same time of 1992 in the Ukraine, there were many believers seeking reform and revival of primitive Christianity...a return to authentic Orthodoxy.
In 1995, the then Patriarch of Kyiv and All Ukraine +VOLODOMYR (Romaniuk) Volodymyr and Father Gleb (Yakunin) discussed the possibility of execution in any form, including "alternative Orthodoxy", which came out of the catacombs, published a book in Kiev "TRUE FACE MP".
In 1995, at the Cathedral in Kiev, led by Patriarch +VOLODOMYR (Romaniuk), was ordained Bishop +METHODIUS (Kudriakov), destined to confirm the line of the valid Apostolic Succession in the COAC Synod and eventual restoration of the "Third Rome"...the Canonical Apostolic Orthodox Church later named by the Holy Synod in Moscow in October 2018 as the Catholic Orthodox Apostolic Church...
In 2018, the Ecumenical Patriarchate declared that it recognized the sacraments as performed by the UOC-KP (Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate) and UAOC (Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church) as valid. It was further stated from this meeting that "when there is some talk about the non-canonicity of the Holy Sacraments celebrated by the clergy of these churches, the Holy Mother Church has answered. These Sacraments and clerical actions are canonical."
We grow because of our Religious Freedom in America
...and our Rich Spiritual Heritage from the Old Country...
and with respect for all our brothers and sisters...
Remembering Persecutions and Spiritual Triumph!
Historic Timeline of Events...
Historic Timeline of Events...
Eastern Orthodoxy was established as the state religion in the Ukraine by a unique procedure. In the Tenth Century, Saint Volodymr the Great, Prince of Kiev, sent investigators abroad to study the doctrines and rituals of Islam and Judaism as well as those of Christianity. They came back to report that the Eastern Orthodox faith seemed best suited for their people. Services were described as being "heaven on earth!" Volodymr was immediately baptized and by AD 988 the entire Rus-Ukraine became Orthodox Christian.
For more than 600 years the Ukraine Church was under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. In 1686 it was placed under the supervision of the Russian Patriarch of Moscow. Ukrainian Orthodox Churches were under suppression of the Patriarch of Moscow until the Russian Revolution in 1917.
1924: (The Ecumenical Patriarchate) His All-Holiness +GREGORIOS VII (Zerdouvakis) of Constantinople grants the Church its Tomos of Autocephaly.
1944: (Warsaw, Poland) Metropolitan +DIONISIJ (Valedynskyj) of the Orthodox Church of Poland meets with Metropolitan +POLYKARP (Sikorsky), Primate of the UAOC since 1942, where in Pinsk, Byelorussia, the First Holy Synod, having received the Canonical Blessings from the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople was convened.
1947: (Germany) Archbishop +HRYHORIJ (Ohichuk) with Metropolitans +OLEKSANDR (Inozemtsiv) and +POLYKARP (Sikorsky) and Bishop...later Patriarch of Kyiv...+MSTYSLAV (Skrypnik).
1980: (Chicago, USA) Metropolitan +HRYHORIJ (Ohichuk) and Archbishop +AMVROSIJ (Dolgorouky) with other members of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) in Diaspora, to be the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the United States.
1990: (Moscow, Russia) Father Martyr St. Alexander Men became a leader with considerable influence and a good reputation among Christians both locally and abroad, among Roman Catholics and Protestants, as well as Orthodox. He utilized the mass media to spread the message of Christ. His strenuous efforts in educating the Russian populace in the basics and dynamics of the Orthodox faith has garnered him the label as a modern-day apostle to the Soviet people, who were benighted by seventy years of Communist atheistic rule. On Sunday morning, 9 September 1990, he was murdered while on his way to celebrate the Divine Liturgy.
1990: (Kyiv, Ukraine) Seven Bishops convened the All-Ukrainian Orthodox Council. Metropolitan +MSTYSLAV (Skrypnik), who had the episcopal lineage from the Polish Orthodox Church, was elected & enthroned in St. Sophia's Cathedral, as the first Patriarch of Kyiv and All Ukraine.
1991-1992: (Moscow, Russia) Father St. Gleb Yakumin participated in the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the causes and circumstances of conspiratorial records which were released by the KGB and tied to the Moscow Patriarchate and national security.
1992: (Kyiv, Ukraine) Betrayal of the UAOC took place, by a corrupt (KGB) Hierarch, behind the back of Patriarch +MSTYSLAV and all the clergy supporting the initiatives of the Ukrainian Government for a false union between the UAOC and the Russian Orthodox Church. The Government sided with this treason against the pleas of Patriarch +MSTYSLAV, a "rival patriarchate" was established (Ukrainain Orthdoox Church - Kyivian Patriarchate), the anathematized Hierarch sought to be a "rival patriarch" and authorities handed over all the church property of the UAOC to +FILARET (Denysenko).
1993: (Kyiv, Ukraine) On 11 June Patriarch +MSTYSLAV Fell Asleep in the Lord. Before death, the Patriarch considering himself and the UAOC betrayed, declared his will that the UAOC couldn't have any relation to the former Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church +FILARET (Denysenko) who was defrocked by his Mother Church.
1995: (Kyiv, Ukraine) +VOLODYMR (Romaniuk) had been elected and enthroned as Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus'-Ukraine but was tragically killed. History notes a bloody conflict during his funeral procession.
2000: (Moscow, Russia) The Bishops and Priests of the True Orthodox (Catacomb) Church...our "Sister Church" in Russia...declare the canonical erection & autocephaly of the Holy Synod and Apostolic Orthodox Church (later changed to the Catholic Orthodox Apostolic Church by the Holy Synod in October 2018) to implement comprehensive and consistent reforms for the benefit of the Church of Christ, the preaching of the Gospel and Russian Orthodoxy.
2018: (Constantinople) His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch +BARTHOLOMEW and the Ecumenical Patriarchate declared that it recognized the sacraments as performed by the UOC-KP (Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate) and UAOC (Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church) as valid. It was further stated from this meeting that "when there is some talk about the non-canonicity of the Holy Sacraments celebrated by the clergy of these churches, the Holy Mother Church has answered. These Sacraments and clerical actions are canonical."
2023-2024: (USA) The Orthodox Church of America - Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, re-affirms canonical ties under the Spiritual Protection of His Beatitude +AMVROSIJ (Dolgorouky) and the Joint Synod of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the United States and former Exarchate of the Patriarch of Alexandria.
For more than 600 years the Ukraine Church was under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. In 1686 it was placed under the supervision of the Russian Patriarch of Moscow. Ukrainian Orthodox Churches were under suppression of the Patriarch of Moscow until the Russian Revolution in 1917.
1924: (The Ecumenical Patriarchate) His All-Holiness +GREGORIOS VII (Zerdouvakis) of Constantinople grants the Church its Tomos of Autocephaly.
1944: (Warsaw, Poland) Metropolitan +DIONISIJ (Valedynskyj) of the Orthodox Church of Poland meets with Metropolitan +POLYKARP (Sikorsky), Primate of the UAOC since 1942, where in Pinsk, Byelorussia, the First Holy Synod, having received the Canonical Blessings from the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople was convened.
1947: (Germany) Archbishop +HRYHORIJ (Ohichuk) with Metropolitans +OLEKSANDR (Inozemtsiv) and +POLYKARP (Sikorsky) and Bishop...later Patriarch of Kyiv...+MSTYSLAV (Skrypnik).
1980: (Chicago, USA) Metropolitan +HRYHORIJ (Ohichuk) and Archbishop +AMVROSIJ (Dolgorouky) with other members of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) in Diaspora, to be the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the United States.
1990: (Moscow, Russia) Father Martyr St. Alexander Men became a leader with considerable influence and a good reputation among Christians both locally and abroad, among Roman Catholics and Protestants, as well as Orthodox. He utilized the mass media to spread the message of Christ. His strenuous efforts in educating the Russian populace in the basics and dynamics of the Orthodox faith has garnered him the label as a modern-day apostle to the Soviet people, who were benighted by seventy years of Communist atheistic rule. On Sunday morning, 9 September 1990, he was murdered while on his way to celebrate the Divine Liturgy.
1990: (Kyiv, Ukraine) Seven Bishops convened the All-Ukrainian Orthodox Council. Metropolitan +MSTYSLAV (Skrypnik), who had the episcopal lineage from the Polish Orthodox Church, was elected & enthroned in St. Sophia's Cathedral, as the first Patriarch of Kyiv and All Ukraine.
1991-1992: (Moscow, Russia) Father St. Gleb Yakumin participated in the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the causes and circumstances of conspiratorial records which were released by the KGB and tied to the Moscow Patriarchate and national security.
1992: (Kyiv, Ukraine) Betrayal of the UAOC took place, by a corrupt (KGB) Hierarch, behind the back of Patriarch +MSTYSLAV and all the clergy supporting the initiatives of the Ukrainian Government for a false union between the UAOC and the Russian Orthodox Church. The Government sided with this treason against the pleas of Patriarch +MSTYSLAV, a "rival patriarchate" was established (Ukrainain Orthdoox Church - Kyivian Patriarchate), the anathematized Hierarch sought to be a "rival patriarch" and authorities handed over all the church property of the UAOC to +FILARET (Denysenko).
1993: (Kyiv, Ukraine) On 11 June Patriarch +MSTYSLAV Fell Asleep in the Lord. Before death, the Patriarch considering himself and the UAOC betrayed, declared his will that the UAOC couldn't have any relation to the former Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church +FILARET (Denysenko) who was defrocked by his Mother Church.
1995: (Kyiv, Ukraine) +VOLODYMR (Romaniuk) had been elected and enthroned as Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus'-Ukraine but was tragically killed. History notes a bloody conflict during his funeral procession.
2000: (Moscow, Russia) The Bishops and Priests of the True Orthodox (Catacomb) Church...our "Sister Church" in Russia...declare the canonical erection & autocephaly of the Holy Synod and Apostolic Orthodox Church (later changed to the Catholic Orthodox Apostolic Church by the Holy Synod in October 2018) to implement comprehensive and consistent reforms for the benefit of the Church of Christ, the preaching of the Gospel and Russian Orthodoxy.
2018: (Constantinople) His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch +BARTHOLOMEW and the Ecumenical Patriarchate declared that it recognized the sacraments as performed by the UOC-KP (Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate) and UAOC (Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church) as valid. It was further stated from this meeting that "when there is some talk about the non-canonicity of the Holy Sacraments celebrated by the clergy of these churches, the Holy Mother Church has answered. These Sacraments and clerical actions are canonical."
2023-2024: (USA) The Orthodox Church of America - Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, re-affirms canonical ties under the Spiritual Protection of His Beatitude +AMVROSIJ (Dolgorouky) and the Joint Synod of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the United States and former Exarchate of the Patriarch of Alexandria.
(please note: the following translations are taken directly from the Ukrainian language)
What Must the Ukrainian Church be Like?
Having lain in the Russian grave for more than three hundred years the Ukrainian Church arose in the twenties under the leadership of Metropolitan +VASYL (Lypkivsky) gathering millions of its children to be saved, but the power of a red beast rebelled and killed clergy who were the spiritual gold of the nation and transferred the right over souls in Ukraine to pro-Moscow clergy because it trusted them and has it as its own.
During these terrifying times millions of souls could have died in the Underworld because of the atheistic system of evil but thanks to faithful divine services of the UAOC the souls were saved for the eternal life with God not scared of taking an excruciating torment in the name of Christ's Church for Ukraine.
In the forties with blessing of Metropolitan +DIONISIY (Valedynsky) the UAOC arose for the secomd time and already having a legal autonomy and canonical consecrations began with a great real eagerness to serve its people in difficult times of enslavement of Ukraine by a brown beast of fascism which came to change communism. And in these times the Ukrainian Church competing with the foreign Russian Church under pressure of beast power took care for saving the souls of Ukrainian children and with God's blessing spread God's teaching with mother's love all over Ukraine strengthening each soul for saving that nobody would give his/her soul to Satan. As God teaches "Don't be afraid of those who can destroy your body but can't destroy the soul, but be afraid of that man who can destroy your soul and body in a fiery hyena". In 1943-1944 again a red beast won Ukraine and with all cruelty began to kill believers and clergy of the UAOC, caressed only those who agreed to communicate with the Russian Orthodox Church but their number was not considerable. The majority of them about 99% became martyrs of their Motherland for a spiritual freedom of Ukraine.
The third rebirth of the UAOC began at the end of the eighties - at the beginning of the nineties by Metropoilitan +JOHN (Bondarchuk) a year earlier as the independence of Ukraine was declared . And again there were difficult times of awakening the people from spiritual stiff in death, but the Church being excited in the spirit of the first rebirth with faith in bright ideals of the Church which will serve Ukraine in saving souls, worked with all its output. And all was good until its enemy Filaret was taken to it, who fought against it from the outside and said, - " There was not, is not, will not be the Ukrainian Church" . Then Satan helped him to come into inside of our Ukrainian Church and destroyed a life-giving spirit of the Church by his poisoned mentality. Joining with the UAOC he by his dark intrigues took everything from It and drove out Its honorable ministers of religion. But it is not in God's plans for His Church which cares for saving the souls to disappear in Ukraine. That is why God blessed the second rebirth of canonical archbishop consecrations of Ukraine, legal autocephalous status not only in TOMOS of 1924 (given by the Ecumenical Patriarch +GREGORIOS VII), but native by spirit with the UAOC of the first rebirth to serve together with the UAOC of the third rebirth, the Apostolic Orthodox Church - APC Holy Synod, for saving souls and unifying them voluntarily into one United (Soborna) Church of Ukraine which will nobody divide and separate.
That is why today God's Church arises from the grave of Moscow church of dead traditions and opens its eyes and sees great changes in the world... First of all It happily saw that the Ukrainian people were and remained on its preeternal land. But alongside with this, It saw that a difficult fortune threw about our native people all over the world. Thus, the Ukrainian people almost became the all-union nation. The restored to life Church must be such one for its people. It must bring satisfaction, create the native life for the children of their mother - Ukraine, thrown out all over the world.
The restored Ukrainian Church saw the greatest changes in the status of the Church on the whole in the world. It saw that under new circumstances of the world life the Church must not be either the state, nor ruled by the state but it must be separated from the state, it must occupy such a plot of the land which can't be taken by other organisation. Christ's Church must recollect now the commandments of Christ and turn to Him, became the Heavenly Kingdom on the earth with its Heavenly Father but not the Kingdom of this world whose Prince is Satan. Thus, the Ukrainian Church must be the kingdom of heavenly happiness on its native land, for its native people.
But the most main freedom and rebirth of any Church under new world changes - it must be freedom from those old dead forms of the church life that through the state organization by Tsars and slavery before this world from church leaders of Russian and other East (and West) churches brought to spiritual stagnation and paralysis of the whole church . That is why the Ukrainian Church being on dogmatic bases of orthodox faith must be on the way of a new church building with belief into eternally life-living strength of Holy Spirit in the Church and with the thought that church canons are ( as church canonists say) a useful archive for the new creativity bit not the collection of laws to be executed. In this archive it is necessary first of all to refuse from that which contradicts the Holy Writ and created in it under the influence of emperors and tsars as for example unequality of states in the Church, humiliation of believers and others. Thus, on the grounds of these prerequisites the restored Ukrainian Church puts as the basis of its life and creativity:
1) freedom, autonomy, independence of any foreign church centre;
2) all church-folk unification (sobornist), brotherhood and equality of all believers in the affairs of church life;
3) complete indifference towards politics, non-interference in any state affairs, separation from the State.
All church life and creativity should be conducted on the national ground , and in another way it can't be because it (Church) is created for the Ukrainian people, it is created by the Ukrainian people themselves. It is no doubt that for the Ukrainian Church to fulfill all its ideas, conduct its life, necessary specific foreign conditions, especially, freedom of faith and understanding, non-interference of the State into the deeds of the Church, freedom of publishing, word, meetings, on the whole, those conditions which any free public life demands . And when the Ukrainian Church was restored to a new life it must live and struggle for this life, must win favorable conditions for this in the name of God's glory and saving the souls in Ukraine.
During these terrifying times millions of souls could have died in the Underworld because of the atheistic system of evil but thanks to faithful divine services of the UAOC the souls were saved for the eternal life with God not scared of taking an excruciating torment in the name of Christ's Church for Ukraine.
In the forties with blessing of Metropolitan +DIONISIY (Valedynsky) the UAOC arose for the secomd time and already having a legal autonomy and canonical consecrations began with a great real eagerness to serve its people in difficult times of enslavement of Ukraine by a brown beast of fascism which came to change communism. And in these times the Ukrainian Church competing with the foreign Russian Church under pressure of beast power took care for saving the souls of Ukrainian children and with God's blessing spread God's teaching with mother's love all over Ukraine strengthening each soul for saving that nobody would give his/her soul to Satan. As God teaches "Don't be afraid of those who can destroy your body but can't destroy the soul, but be afraid of that man who can destroy your soul and body in a fiery hyena". In 1943-1944 again a red beast won Ukraine and with all cruelty began to kill believers and clergy of the UAOC, caressed only those who agreed to communicate with the Russian Orthodox Church but their number was not considerable. The majority of them about 99% became martyrs of their Motherland for a spiritual freedom of Ukraine.
The third rebirth of the UAOC began at the end of the eighties - at the beginning of the nineties by Metropoilitan +JOHN (Bondarchuk) a year earlier as the independence of Ukraine was declared . And again there were difficult times of awakening the people from spiritual stiff in death, but the Church being excited in the spirit of the first rebirth with faith in bright ideals of the Church which will serve Ukraine in saving souls, worked with all its output. And all was good until its enemy Filaret was taken to it, who fought against it from the outside and said, - " There was not, is not, will not be the Ukrainian Church" . Then Satan helped him to come into inside of our Ukrainian Church and destroyed a life-giving spirit of the Church by his poisoned mentality. Joining with the UAOC he by his dark intrigues took everything from It and drove out Its honorable ministers of religion. But it is not in God's plans for His Church which cares for saving the souls to disappear in Ukraine. That is why God blessed the second rebirth of canonical archbishop consecrations of Ukraine, legal autocephalous status not only in TOMOS of 1924 (given by the Ecumenical Patriarch +GREGORIOS VII), but native by spirit with the UAOC of the first rebirth to serve together with the UAOC of the third rebirth, the Apostolic Orthodox Church - APC Holy Synod, for saving souls and unifying them voluntarily into one United (Soborna) Church of Ukraine which will nobody divide and separate.
That is why today God's Church arises from the grave of Moscow church of dead traditions and opens its eyes and sees great changes in the world... First of all It happily saw that the Ukrainian people were and remained on its preeternal land. But alongside with this, It saw that a difficult fortune threw about our native people all over the world. Thus, the Ukrainian people almost became the all-union nation. The restored to life Church must be such one for its people. It must bring satisfaction, create the native life for the children of their mother - Ukraine, thrown out all over the world.
The restored Ukrainian Church saw the greatest changes in the status of the Church on the whole in the world. It saw that under new circumstances of the world life the Church must not be either the state, nor ruled by the state but it must be separated from the state, it must occupy such a plot of the land which can't be taken by other organisation. Christ's Church must recollect now the commandments of Christ and turn to Him, became the Heavenly Kingdom on the earth with its Heavenly Father but not the Kingdom of this world whose Prince is Satan. Thus, the Ukrainian Church must be the kingdom of heavenly happiness on its native land, for its native people.
But the most main freedom and rebirth of any Church under new world changes - it must be freedom from those old dead forms of the church life that through the state organization by Tsars and slavery before this world from church leaders of Russian and other East (and West) churches brought to spiritual stagnation and paralysis of the whole church . That is why the Ukrainian Church being on dogmatic bases of orthodox faith must be on the way of a new church building with belief into eternally life-living strength of Holy Spirit in the Church and with the thought that church canons are ( as church canonists say) a useful archive for the new creativity bit not the collection of laws to be executed. In this archive it is necessary first of all to refuse from that which contradicts the Holy Writ and created in it under the influence of emperors and tsars as for example unequality of states in the Church, humiliation of believers and others. Thus, on the grounds of these prerequisites the restored Ukrainian Church puts as the basis of its life and creativity:
1) freedom, autonomy, independence of any foreign church centre;
2) all church-folk unification (sobornist), brotherhood and equality of all believers in the affairs of church life;
3) complete indifference towards politics, non-interference in any state affairs, separation from the State.
All church life and creativity should be conducted on the national ground , and in another way it can't be because it (Church) is created for the Ukrainian people, it is created by the Ukrainian people themselves. It is no doubt that for the Ukrainian Church to fulfill all its ideas, conduct its life, necessary specific foreign conditions, especially, freedom of faith and understanding, non-interference of the State into the deeds of the Church, freedom of publishing, word, meetings, on the whole, those conditions which any free public life demands . And when the Ukrainian Church was restored to a new life it must live and struggle for this life, must win favorable conditions for this in the name of God's glory and saving the souls in Ukraine.
From His Beatitude +PETER (Zhurawetzky) and "Our Missionary" in the USA...will Ukrainians ever truly be free?
Principal Grounds of a Free Ukrainian Orthodox Church
І. AUTONOMY
1. Each nation has the rright to have its Autocephallous Church (34 Apostle rule) .
Each Church should be adapted to folk character and nationality of that region in which it, this Church exists (17th rule of the IV Ecumenical Synod, 38th rule of the VI Ecumenical Synod).
2. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the time of its foundation in 988 till the year of 1686 was independent. It had its own church structure, its control system, that is it was actually autocephalous though it didn't have its Patriarch and Metropolitans, for it they were consecrated by Constantinople Patriarches in accordance with the 28th rule of the IVth Ecumenical Synod.
3 In the Orthodox east of Europe the Ukrainian Church is "Mother Church" because It brought Christ's faith to Moscow region, Belarus and Lithuania and founded Churches for them and influenced them voluntarily for a long time.
4. During the whole time of its independent existence the Ukrainian Orthodox Church being by its inner essence the part of the United Soborna Orthodox Church was independent by its outer form. It lived on the basis of Holy Writ and Canons as the other Orthodox Churches, by its national life, its traditions, its ideology which were formed during these ages.
5. By Holy Writ and common truth of Apostle rules and rules of Ecumenical Synods and in accordance with the demands of historic-national life of its people the Ukrainian Church during seven hundred years of its independent existence created a lot of such peculiarities which do not exist in neighbouring Orthodox Churches. At the beginning of its development it had Holy Writ in well understable language as Ostromyrov Gospel written in Kyiv in 1056, Kyiv Gospel written in 1092 and others. Since the XVI century it had a lot of translations of Holy Writ into a true Ukrainian language, for example a well-known Peresopnytske Gospel of 1556, New Testament of Nevalevsky of 1581,Krekhivsky Apostle of 1560 and others. There were many the so-called Teaching Gospels which were read at the churches during the masses by alive Ukrainian language. The Holy Writ in an understandable language Christianized our nation, strengthened it spiritually and by this it allowed to reject the views later on, when a foreign hostile force passed to the offensive on its religious - national ideology, its spiritual originality.
6. The violence of high society (Moscow and Turkish governments) and foreign church power the Ukrainian Church was joined in 1686 to Moscow Church against the will of clergy and people of Ukraine and canons.
7. After enslavement the Ukrainian Church kept for a long time its religious-national ideology, struggled for it and only in the XVIII century began to quickly lose it under pressure of the Russian government through the so-called Holy Synod. .
8. The Ukrainian Church never agreed to lose its independence and when liberation days of its people came in the events of 1917 it freed from Moscow domination. Holy Spirit and general strike pf the Ukrainian people showed the way to it how to free from formal forms of the church life that had as its content not the alive understanding of Orthodoxy but a dead letter . In the Russian church which completely served to the high society power having turned into the state institution and had by its Head the tsar (rule 43 of Laws of Russian empire)- there was no place to the alive spirit.
9. In 1917-1919 in Ukraine in all village and governor Church Synods and military meetings the united will of the Ukrainian people had a place aimed at the autocephalous structure of the Ukrainian people. On the 5th of May 1920 The All-Ukrainian Orthodox Church Council in Kyiv at their Grand Council being guided by the Holy Spirit and the will of the whole people solemnly and unanimously declared the Autonomy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
10. In the October of 1921 the First All-Ukrainian Orthodox Church Synod in Kyiv in an old sacred place - St. Sophia's Cathedral declared that "the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as Autocephalous is a free member of All- world United (Soborna) Orthodox Church and remains in a stable brotherhood with all Orthodox Churches."
11. By these acts a new era in the history of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church begins, the era of its getting rid of the influence of Moscow, the renewal of its religious - Christian and national ideology which is lost by it in the time of its forced existence after 1686.
12. Getting freed from 235 - year slavery the Ukrainian Church chose its own historical way by which it went during 7 centuries. Remaining on dogmatic bases of the Orthodox Faith It began a new life on the grounds of autonomy, full independence of other Churches, all-nation-wide Sobornist (Catholicism, Unification), brotherhood, and equality of all believers in the affairs of church life and leadership. The prerequisites of the development of these bases only the national ground became because the Ukrainian Church began to renew for the nation and through the nation.
13. In its restored Orthodox Autocephalous Church the Ukrainian people again saw Christ- the Sun of Truth who brought Eternal Truth, brotherhood and love on the Earth. "I was born and came tot he world to witness about the truth, everybody who is from Truth , - listens to My voice" (John 18.37).
14. A great offence- untruth made to the Ukrainian Church in 1686 was acknowledged , though it was late but it was done. Constantinople Patriarch +GREGORIOS VII in his TOMOS of 13rd November , 1924 (which was given to the Orthodox Church on the lands of Ukraine under Poland's occupation) as a main argument from the view of illegal joining the Ukrainian Church to Moscow one, wrote: "In the history it was written that separation from our Altar of Kyiv Metropolitanate and Orthodox Metropolitanates of Lithuania and Poland which depended on it , (2) and their joining St Moscow Church took place completely illegally not according to canonical rules".
15. In accordance with the practice of its 700 -year (X-XVII centuries) independent life and accordance with the will of the Ukrainian people, shown by church-historic acts of 1917-1921 and on the grounds of Apostle rules and rules of Ecumenical Synods the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is the Autocephalous Church any interference into its life is violence.
16. The interference that the Ukrainian Church suffered after 1686 costs it such a number of victims whom doesn't know any Ukrainian Church in this millenium in the world: 29 bishops . about two thousands and hundred thousands of believers.
We believe that for such interference and those victims the oppressors sooner or later will be revenged by God's Justice because violence over the spirit done to the Ukrainian people is the hardest evil. The blood of victims for Saint Orthodox Ukrainian Church will fall on the torturers (Mathew 23, 35, 36).
II. SOBORNIST (CATHOLICISM, UNIFICATION)
"Where there were two or three in my name , there I also am, among them". (Mathew 18.20)
The symbol of Orthodox faith: "I believe ... in Holy Catholic (Soborna, United) Apostle Church"
17. The Ukrainian people accepting in the Xth century Christ's Orthodox Faith in order to gather the whole people of Rus-Ukraine into one strong united family introduced Sobornist (Catholicism, Unification) in its Church bequeathed to the people by Holy Writ and Holy Testament from the beginning of II century.
18. The unification as the system of management and church life where the right of management and solution of affairs have all the members of the Church - bishop, clergy and people that will protect the Church from corruption. The unification being such close for a long time to the democratic principle of our people was one of the main prerequisites of the development, inner strength and magnificence of the Ukrainian Church during the whole time of its independent existence.
19. The highest control body of the Ukrainian Church always was the Ecumenical Synod which consisted of three parts: 1. Bishop, 2. Clergy, 3. Representatives from believers. The Ecumenical Synod without any of these component parts of the Church was not considered legal.
20. The Chronicles wrote about the Ukrainian Ecumenical Synods a long time ago. It is known about the Synod of 1147 under the reign of Kyiv prince Izyaslav II (at which Klym Smolyatych the outstanding scientist and public figure by free votes was elected and consecrated by relics of St Kliment as Metropolitan of Ukraine ) and about other Synods.
21. Synods were gathered as far as it was necessary, regional - for the most important affairs as election of Metropolitan and others, bishop - for election of bishops for eparchy , etc. The bishops were always chosen by the clergy with the believers.
The election of bishops always had good results because between bishops and people there was a strong living connection.
22. In eparchies Eparchial Synods ruled out at which in the majority with the right of decisive vote believers from parishes took part. Through Bishop Synods bishops learnt out their clergy and believers. In eparchies nobody from bishops ruled out independently, nobody from the clergy came to the parishioners uninvited.
23. On the basis of St. Letter (The Acts 1.2,15;.22,25; Rom 1.1; Pet. 1.10 and others), Holy Canons and Legends all priests and church servants and all members of bishop and other institutions elected in Ukrainian Church . All parish church power was chosen by the parish itself- it chose the candidate for the senior priest an the bishop blessed him or consecrated. When the church community didn't have their candidate for the senior priest he was appointed by the bishop at the consent of the church community.
24. "The election of church holy orders made the clergy very close with the people and this happened when the Ukrainian church suffered difficult times , especially when it was in the catholic Poland helped it extremely. Without any exaggeration one may say that if the Ukrainian Church had not accepted a wide system of unification legality and election of church holy orders with a great participation of high-society element, it wouldn't have survived catholic attacks in the times of Polish power",- says Archbishop +ILARION (Ohiyenko) ("Ukrainian Church", v.1, p.113).
25. The unification of the Ukrainian Church introduced already in prince's times is legalized by Canons which give the obligatory importance to local church traditions (I Ecumenical Synod 6,7,18; II Ecumenical Synod 2, III Ecumenical Synod 8; IV Ecumenical Synod 30, VI Ecumenical Synod 39 and others). The Symbol of faith teaches:" I believe ... in Single , Holy, United and Apostle Church." The system of unification existed in the Ukrainian Church till its enslavement by Moscow Church. The domination of one person or a group was not allowed.
26. The practice of the life of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church both from remote and recent times teaches us that participation of the people through their best people in the church direction is the first prerequisite of strength and magnificence of the Church.
27. The Moscow power having got control over the Ukrainian Church in the XVII century coarsely cancelled its unification -legality structure. The "synodal" structure was introduced in which the clergy and people didn't have the vote. By enslavement of the Ukrainian Church the Moscow government finished the action of full abolition of all democratic rights and freedoms of the Ukrainian people, the action which was begun after cancellation of Pereyaslavsky agreement what was a habitual phenomenon in Moscow's policy.
28. In 1917 when Moscow "church-grave" broke up, the Ukrainian Church arising from it began its new life on the grounds of its past and together with this - on the grounds of unification.
29. The unification legality of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church showed Its church life ability before God and Ukraine during the guidance of Metropolitans +VASILI Lypkiwsky and +MYKOLA Boretsky. In very difficult conditions unknown by the history of the last millenium this Church lived and acted under cruel attacks, similarly to the first Apostle Church , grew and when its sons went as in the first days of Christianity - to death. It existed and brighted with imperishable light of Christ's Truth and with it went to Calvary but didn't die as +VASILI Lypkiwsky says: "It is as Christ, Its Head, resurrected from dead, doesn't die more, the death doesn't have the power over it". It resurrected for the second time in the difficult times for Ukraine during the II World War and inspired its people by patriotism. It resurrected for the third time in 1990 before the declaration of independent Ukraine. It will resurrect again for the benefit of Ukraine when we will be all together as Christ's Apostles, (Acts II), clergy and people.
30. The sense of fulfilling a high duty of serving God to conduct services to their people inspired elected by the people archbishops and priests for the Gospel self-sacrifice.
31. The Unification is dear to the Ukrainian people as one of the main parts of its church's ideology. It, this church, cost them victims in the past and numerous victims in recent times. It is consecrated by the blood of bishops, priests and believers as the Church of first centuries of Christianity.
32. The task of every priest and every believer of St. Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church is to keep its unification as one of its main grounds in order to unite Christ's Church in Ukraine. It is necessary to remember that we don't prove anything new but create the deed which our ancestors did during centuries in accordance with Holy Gospel (Mathew. 5,17)., 8 rule of III Ecumenical Synod and others, which order to respect and take care for its native thing.
III. NATIONALITY
"Better go to lost sheep of Israel's home ".
(Mathew. 10.6)
33. All Orthodox Churches together are the Single- Soborna (Catholic, United)- All-world Church because they are united by the Single Highest Pastor Jesus Christ and have single dogma of faith based on Holy Writ and guided by Canons of Ecumenical Church Synods ( in that part which does not contradict Holy Writ and preserves spiritual- life expediency till now).
34. By forms of their life, their ideology all Orthodox Churches are national. Each of them has its language of divine services, their traditions and ceremonies, their calendar of Saints and their features in Divine Liturgies, their style of building temples and their art of church painting, their management control, on the whole their own religious-national world, because only in it man can easier learn the true God.
35. Each Orthodox Church respects and keeps its national features of serving to its people according to the teaching of Holy Gospel (Mathew 10.6, 15.24, 23,37; Mark 7.27; Luke 2.32 and others).
36. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church by its inner person is the member of All-world Orthodox Church. But its outer form which is conditioned by the spiritual originality of the Ukrainian people, It is a National Church.
37. During more than 7 centuries the Ukrainian Church led its people by the way of Christian-national life. It protected people from a spiritual decay in difficult times of its own state system, thanks to which the people kept themselves nationally in the days of the most violent pressure.
38. The Ukrainian Church taught the Ukrainian people to respect their Orthodox Faith, their traditions, their native language, their culture, love their region, because who doesn't love truly his/her nearest relation, friend, neighbour he is not a true Christian. In Holy Writ there are many instructive examples of Love to their relations (Neemiya 13.24,25, Mathew 10.14, 15, Luke 24, 21 and others).
39. Till the end of the XVIIIth century the Ukrainian Orthodox Church created the culture to its people. It gave them the education and first written language with wonderful " Word on Law and Grace". of Metropolitan +ILARION and brilliant "Word about Ihor's regiment". The Church created a magnificent church- architectural art and wonderful church song. It helped the people to possess rich national sacred treasures.
40. The clergy of the Ukrainian people till its full enslavement was determined by a high and sincere national patriotism, sacrificially served to the native country and in their happy days and days of misfortune. This spirit of Love to the native country and people remained in separate priest families till nowadays despite all pressure of the Russian government in Ukraine.
41. The Ukrainian monasteries were cultural fires in Ukraine, they served God by the service to their people, but not as in today's times of Moscow breed. Then in the calmness of monasteries , under monk's frocks the hearts of patriots were filled with love to the native Christian region. There, in monasteries our first national legends and our history were written , from where men of great ideas of religious-national and general human ideas came out. No one monastery of Orthodox East gave so many church and cultural figures as a well-known Kyevo-Pecherska Lavra gave till the time of enslavement of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by Moscow.
42. The national spirit of the Ukrainian Church resurrected in liberation days of the Ukrainian people in 1917. At once there appeared "Pastors who their soul will give for sheep" - (John, 10, 11). Their number multiplied when after three years a horrible danger of decay and abolition hung over the Ukrainian Nation. Preservation of spiritually-national essence of the native people with its cementation on the ground of Christian religion became the first task of the restored UAOC. The realization of that task inspired priests to sacrifice in the name of serving the people.
MISSION OF ORTHODOX CHURCH OF UKRAINE
In those days many of those whose hearts suffered for the fortune of the native region and people became pastors. The believers took the participation in the church life . The majority of their part became martyrs for Christ's Truth.
43. "No one Ukrainian organization did so much for national consciousness of the Ukrainian People as The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church did",- says Archbishop +ILARION Ohiyenko ("Ukrainian Church and our culture",- The report at Kholmsky Eparchial Synod in 1942", estimating the church and cultural life in Ukraine of that time. And especially the service of the UAOC for Ukraine is high because in 1924 being under the occupation of Poland the Orthodox Church got TOMOS about autonomy from the Ecumenical Patriarch, TOMOS to which a direct, inherited relation has our canonical hiearchical branch in order to serve today the Ukrainian people without accusation in non-canonicity and others.
44. Today's state of the life of the Ukrainian people depends very much on the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church responsible for their future. To be on guards of its people, pronounce aloud about their past and modern life, about their right of human being on the presented land by God before all Christian world - is one of the most important task of our Church.
To protect religious-national essence of its believers , to fill the soul of the young generation by belief in God, in full sense of its honesties, to free them from foreign, harmful "ideas", to unite all in United (Soborna) Church as sons of Ukraine, in their consciousness of their purpose before it and readiness to work for good of its people now and during the turn from this great "descend" is the duty of the Ukrainian clergy.
45. To fulfill its high and responsible task the UAOC will be able when It is a creative, advancing and inseparatedly linked with the people. Steadily standing on dogmatic and general-canonical grounds of orthodoxy the Ukrainian Church must clear its church life from foreign influences which happened as a result of a long staying under foreign State and church power.
46. The living native language is the basis of ideology of the Ukrainian Church. It is the closest way to God, Faith and spiritual-national originality. The native language in the Church was consecrated by descending Holy Spirit on Apostles and blessed by Holy Writ (Acts 2.8,9,10.11; I to Cor. 14.1-19; Mathew. 28.19; Mark 16.15,17 and others). "In the Church it is better to pronounce five words clearly that ten thousands words in a foreign language" - says St. Ap. Paul (to Cor. 1.14,19). The Church Slavonic language with the Russian pronunciation which was introduced in the Ukrainian Church after 1886 is only the means of denationalization of our people and could be used for the history to be kept in the museum under the table (5).
47. In all church divine services, in sermons, in printed word, in all spheres of the church life only native language should dominate - this is the most important point of the existence of the Ukrainian people as a separate nation. Without their native people there are no independent people. This is the truth which does not need any proofs.
48. The language of all church published editions - god-service books, prayer-books, periodicals, etc should be literary soborna, easily understandable and simple. The textbooks on religion should be written in an exemplary - pure Ukrainian language, in order to teach the language the youth. Everybody who writes should know the Ukrainian literary soborna language perfectly.
49. The clergy of the Ukrainian Church as the educator of the soul of the people should respect their native language and by this educate the respect to it and among believers. In the family and in the church one must use only native language, the priest who uses in his family or in the conservation with the believers the foreign language sins against the Ukrainian people and Church because he undermines the bases of his nation.
50. But it is not enough of native language in the Church in order it was national and spiritual and those are mistaken who consider the Ukrainian Church that one where only divine services are held in Ukrainian and all the rest remains of Russian breed. The Ukrainian Church is the church which turned away from Moscow- pharisee ways to its own historic way which renews its ideal- proper only to the Ukrainian people - the spirit of God's truth, Christian looks, its understanding of orthodoxy in its living content but not in the letter ( according to teaching of St Apostle Paul - "A letter kills but spirit brings back to life"). The church which renews its national features and properties , its calendar of Saints ( each Orthodox Church has its own calendar) , its local prayers introduced by epochal "Prayer-book" of Metropolitan +PETRO Mohyla - 37 holy orders, its customs in divine services ( the Gospel is read in front of the people), Eucharist communions are read aloud, before "Believe" the address to the believers with the words " Christ is among us" and so on) , its ancient magnificent song, its ceremonies. It is necessary to remember that old Ukrainian religious ceremonies are full of content and beauty, they always had an educating importance , that is why they must be renewed it is necessary to restore all that during seven centuries (from X till XVIII) formed the religious consciousness of our people, made them godlike and strengthened their spiritually and nationally.
51. Nationality of the Ukrainian Church as we see is not "Ukrainization", such understanding of the historical view would be quite untrue but the return to its sound root. "The fortune of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is connected not with guiding its energy to scornful, sometimes very materialistic by its tendencies 'ukrainization' but with inside spiritual religious rise. And this religious rise will undoubtedly bring great benefit for Ukraine, because it will be called by its people who will be Ukrainians not only by their material tendencies but by their inner ideal and spiritual strength"
(V. Lypywsky "Religion and Church in the history of Ukraine", p. 98).
52. The Ukrainian Church by its inside content, its understanding of Christ's teaching always radiated into all sides and the beauty of its national forms - architecture, splendour of icons, wonderful songs, godlike and modest behaviour of believers during divine services surprised all foreigners by its ceremonies , as we know this from historical documents.
Love of the Ukrainian people to Church, their religiosity were known all over the whole Europe. Everybody from prince to commoners on Sunday and Holiday were in Churches.
53. To renew beneficial Christian traditions of the Ukrainian people, rise them to the former level of magnificence and beauty the UAOC will be able only on the national ground. Because these traditions grew from the bases of national essence of the people in the spirit of Christianity , therefore by this spirit they have to be renewed. This renewal will begin as sooner as quicker the conductors will act filled by their own spiritual value and understanding of the sense of these traditions.
54. To renew the Ukrainian Orthodoxy , that is created by centuries (X-XVIII) on the national ground the world of Christian life of the Ukrainian people in accordance with modern life demands is one of the most important tasks of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church.
IV. INDEPENDENCE OF HIGH-SOCIETY POWER
55. The Church is the the institution of God, Creator of Universe in the eternity. God's temple is for man a quiet place among "worldy sea, agitated by the storm of misfortune".
Only in the temple in the hours of sorrow man finds calming and joy of the soul that means that Heavenly Kingdom is inside us. The Church blesses man's life from the day of his/her birth till the act of transition into the beyond and for the eternity of the soul prays to God.
56. The Church must be neither state nor under the influence of the state. It is higher over material earthy affairs. However the Church can't be torn away on the Earth but has to occupy such its piece of land which any other organization can't occupy. Taking care of saving the souls, the Church should think about the happiness of the people on the earth on the grounds of Christ's truths.
57. By its high authority the Church has to unite its believers , guide them by the way of spiritual perfection, protect them from the Spirit of decay and strengthen the Spirit of Christian and national honesties. Тhat is why the Church in these its tasks helps to the high-society power if the activity of the latter is aimed at the way of Christian ideas and takes the activity of the Church positively, by the way of symphony and harmony of interrelations with It. Such harmony is possible only when the state power is in God's hands of wise men who respect the authority of the Church and are its true sons themselves.
58. The history teaches us that it is not enough to have only state high-society laws to get evil instincts of human nature. We know that created by people (political) deeds are easily ruined by the people themselves. The highest over all is God's Law that equally binds all the people, and only the authority of the Church - (power not from this world) which this God's Law of Life preserves and watches after its execution in the state of harmonic control of human life in prosperity and symphony with God.
59. The Church must be the highest authority which saves the obligatory for all people "God's Law of public and family morality", (6) the authority which restrains evil human instincts but cherishes good instincts. The Church is only when It is independent of high-society power. This independence however must not lead the Church for the state of somehow closed institution in itself because then It will loose its usefulness because it will not have a complete organizing influence on the public life. The Church also looses its authority when it becomes an instrument for service in the hands of those who rule in the State because when the latter abuse their power , it means that the Church promotes their abuse of power. .
60. To hold its saving action and authority of "Divine power, not from this world" the Church can only when It being under its full independence of the high-society power influences as an organizing element upon the society in the sphere of religious and spiritual-national life. And under the terms of political-national being of its people and in difficult times of loosing its state system, for them the Church is a great life-giving uniting force which stands on its spiritual- God's grounds. The history of the Ukrainian people teaches us this.
61. The Ukrainian Church during its free life (X-XVIIIc.) was independent from the high-society power. By its high authority It influenced the latter differentiating deeply God's and high-society's based on Christ's science: "Give King's to King and God's to God". The Ukrainian Church never disturbed orders of Holy Writ to please the high-society power because by this It would violate its spiritual authority which is its essence and proves its existence , that is why during all the times Christ's Church was persecuted by God - struggling power.
62. The Ukrainian Metropolitans and bishops were always the closest advisers of Ukrainian princes and hetmans. The system of symphony or harmony between the Church and State in Ukraine-Rus especially developed Kyiv State in the 11-13th centuries , as the basis of which was the idea of union of the Church and State in the struggle with evil in the world and in saving people. The idea of such union is developed in Apostle epistles (Rom. XIII, 1-7; Tim. II, 13-17). The harmony of interrelations and cooperation of spiritual and high-society powers proceeded from the mutual understanding that the material strength can't be without the spiritual strength that the State can't exist without the Church. Fulfilling the duty of serving the people the church power never forgot that it can't fulfill the tasks of high-society power when it doesn't want to turn the Church from the eternal institution , God's into a temporary , prince's institution. By its halo of spirituality, its over high-society authority the Ukrainian Church was invincible till its enslavement in 1686 by the Moscow tsar-papism.
63. The high - society power in Ukraine in the times of its state life, highly respected the authority of Religion and Church , in all affairs of spiritual character it always obeyed before the Church, no one state affair without its blessing didn't do. The orders of the Church in the spiritual sphere for all - from the king to the last citizen were obligatory. The authority of the Ukrainian Church was respected in the Lithuanian period of the Ukrainian history. Even Tatars didn't disturb it.
64. The independence of a spiritual power in Ukraine from the high-society one , harmony of relations between them, extraordinarily promoted the development of the Ukrainian Church. Its clergy were not only spiritual but national conductors of their people as it was in the Apostle Church. Serving God by divine services to their people the Ukrainian clergy Christianized the people's life from the bottom to the top.
65. The high authority of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as high-society power was after shameful 1686 coarsely broken by Moscow godless tsarism . By violent measures during the reign of Tsar Peter the First and tsarina Kateryna the Second everything which was church Ukrainian was taken away from Ukraine, oppressed, ruined. Church books of Ukrainian printing were burnt, many-aged local religious customs were prohibited. The spiritual legacy of the Ukrainian Church was buried under a hard gravestone of the Tsar synod.
66. In liberation days (1917-1920) a spiritual authority of the Ukrainian Church rwas restored. But against it by all their might, Moscow bishops in Ukraine and part of clergy rebelled - this "church inventory of the Russian government". (7)This clergy in the majority of Russian breed by origin and views, in lesser part by its slave psychology could not agree with the rebirth of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Accustomed to dead canonicity and mechanical "orthodoxy" it expected the loss of its supremacy and material interests over the church in the Ukrainian church movement.
67. After defeat of free independent life of the Ukrainian people which was built on Christian bases the conditions of the UAOC were difficult. But its spiritual authority was high because all its activity was built on the Gospel truth, on love , on the unity with the people. Later on in the times of triple violence before which the shades of Neron and Dioklitian become pale this authority was oppressed but not won.
68. In troubled days of hard tests of our nation in 1941-1944 the authority of canonical members of higher orders of clergy of the UAOC was many times abused and humiliated by a heartless conqueror, it was a single strength that gave life to the tired soul of the people and gave them the Spirit of self-restrain and endurance in the hope for the better future. In the struggle with oppressors-princes of darkness of this century the authority of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church based on Soborna (Catholic, United) equality renewed in our times.
69. A millennium experience of Ukrainian religious- Christian life teaches us that the Church is the highest a spiritual property for the nation and that Its power as God's establishment is only then "the power not from this world" when It is free from the influences of the high society power upon It, when It gives back "King's - to King's and God's - to God".
70. Understanding of its purpose and its responsibility before God and Nation and before its conscience, private spiritual self-perfection on the Gospel truths, labour and labour to fill the man's life by the content of Christian honesties are the principal bases of spiritual authority of our ecclesiastics and with that the whole Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church to unite all the Churches in Ukraine and outside its boundaries on the basis of Sobornaya (Catholicism, Unification).
1. Each nation has the rright to have its Autocephallous Church (34 Apostle rule) .
Each Church should be adapted to folk character and nationality of that region in which it, this Church exists (17th rule of the IV Ecumenical Synod, 38th rule of the VI Ecumenical Synod).
2. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the time of its foundation in 988 till the year of 1686 was independent. It had its own church structure, its control system, that is it was actually autocephalous though it didn't have its Patriarch and Metropolitans, for it they were consecrated by Constantinople Patriarches in accordance with the 28th rule of the IVth Ecumenical Synod.
3 In the Orthodox east of Europe the Ukrainian Church is "Mother Church" because It brought Christ's faith to Moscow region, Belarus and Lithuania and founded Churches for them and influenced them voluntarily for a long time.
4. During the whole time of its independent existence the Ukrainian Orthodox Church being by its inner essence the part of the United Soborna Orthodox Church was independent by its outer form. It lived on the basis of Holy Writ and Canons as the other Orthodox Churches, by its national life, its traditions, its ideology which were formed during these ages.
5. By Holy Writ and common truth of Apostle rules and rules of Ecumenical Synods and in accordance with the demands of historic-national life of its people the Ukrainian Church during seven hundred years of its independent existence created a lot of such peculiarities which do not exist in neighbouring Orthodox Churches. At the beginning of its development it had Holy Writ in well understable language as Ostromyrov Gospel written in Kyiv in 1056, Kyiv Gospel written in 1092 and others. Since the XVI century it had a lot of translations of Holy Writ into a true Ukrainian language, for example a well-known Peresopnytske Gospel of 1556, New Testament of Nevalevsky of 1581,Krekhivsky Apostle of 1560 and others. There were many the so-called Teaching Gospels which were read at the churches during the masses by alive Ukrainian language. The Holy Writ in an understandable language Christianized our nation, strengthened it spiritually and by this it allowed to reject the views later on, when a foreign hostile force passed to the offensive on its religious - national ideology, its spiritual originality.
6. The violence of high society (Moscow and Turkish governments) and foreign church power the Ukrainian Church was joined in 1686 to Moscow Church against the will of clergy and people of Ukraine and canons.
7. After enslavement the Ukrainian Church kept for a long time its religious-national ideology, struggled for it and only in the XVIII century began to quickly lose it under pressure of the Russian government through the so-called Holy Synod. .
8. The Ukrainian Church never agreed to lose its independence and when liberation days of its people came in the events of 1917 it freed from Moscow domination. Holy Spirit and general strike pf the Ukrainian people showed the way to it how to free from formal forms of the church life that had as its content not the alive understanding of Orthodoxy but a dead letter . In the Russian church which completely served to the high society power having turned into the state institution and had by its Head the tsar (rule 43 of Laws of Russian empire)- there was no place to the alive spirit.
9. In 1917-1919 in Ukraine in all village and governor Church Synods and military meetings the united will of the Ukrainian people had a place aimed at the autocephalous structure of the Ukrainian people. On the 5th of May 1920 The All-Ukrainian Orthodox Church Council in Kyiv at their Grand Council being guided by the Holy Spirit and the will of the whole people solemnly and unanimously declared the Autonomy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
10. In the October of 1921 the First All-Ukrainian Orthodox Church Synod in Kyiv in an old sacred place - St. Sophia's Cathedral declared that "the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as Autocephalous is a free member of All- world United (Soborna) Orthodox Church and remains in a stable brotherhood with all Orthodox Churches."
11. By these acts a new era in the history of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church begins, the era of its getting rid of the influence of Moscow, the renewal of its religious - Christian and national ideology which is lost by it in the time of its forced existence after 1686.
12. Getting freed from 235 - year slavery the Ukrainian Church chose its own historical way by which it went during 7 centuries. Remaining on dogmatic bases of the Orthodox Faith It began a new life on the grounds of autonomy, full independence of other Churches, all-nation-wide Sobornist (Catholicism, Unification), brotherhood, and equality of all believers in the affairs of church life and leadership. The prerequisites of the development of these bases only the national ground became because the Ukrainian Church began to renew for the nation and through the nation.
13. In its restored Orthodox Autocephalous Church the Ukrainian people again saw Christ- the Sun of Truth who brought Eternal Truth, brotherhood and love on the Earth. "I was born and came tot he world to witness about the truth, everybody who is from Truth , - listens to My voice" (John 18.37).
14. A great offence- untruth made to the Ukrainian Church in 1686 was acknowledged , though it was late but it was done. Constantinople Patriarch +GREGORIOS VII in his TOMOS of 13rd November , 1924 (which was given to the Orthodox Church on the lands of Ukraine under Poland's occupation) as a main argument from the view of illegal joining the Ukrainian Church to Moscow one, wrote: "In the history it was written that separation from our Altar of Kyiv Metropolitanate and Orthodox Metropolitanates of Lithuania and Poland which depended on it , (2) and their joining St Moscow Church took place completely illegally not according to canonical rules".
15. In accordance with the practice of its 700 -year (X-XVII centuries) independent life and accordance with the will of the Ukrainian people, shown by church-historic acts of 1917-1921 and on the grounds of Apostle rules and rules of Ecumenical Synods the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is the Autocephalous Church any interference into its life is violence.
16. The interference that the Ukrainian Church suffered after 1686 costs it such a number of victims whom doesn't know any Ukrainian Church in this millenium in the world: 29 bishops . about two thousands and hundred thousands of believers.
We believe that for such interference and those victims the oppressors sooner or later will be revenged by God's Justice because violence over the spirit done to the Ukrainian people is the hardest evil. The blood of victims for Saint Orthodox Ukrainian Church will fall on the torturers (Mathew 23, 35, 36).
II. SOBORNIST (CATHOLICISM, UNIFICATION)
"Where there were two or three in my name , there I also am, among them". (Mathew 18.20)
The symbol of Orthodox faith: "I believe ... in Holy Catholic (Soborna, United) Apostle Church"
17. The Ukrainian people accepting in the Xth century Christ's Orthodox Faith in order to gather the whole people of Rus-Ukraine into one strong united family introduced Sobornist (Catholicism, Unification) in its Church bequeathed to the people by Holy Writ and Holy Testament from the beginning of II century.
18. The unification as the system of management and church life where the right of management and solution of affairs have all the members of the Church - bishop, clergy and people that will protect the Church from corruption. The unification being such close for a long time to the democratic principle of our people was one of the main prerequisites of the development, inner strength and magnificence of the Ukrainian Church during the whole time of its independent existence.
19. The highest control body of the Ukrainian Church always was the Ecumenical Synod which consisted of three parts: 1. Bishop, 2. Clergy, 3. Representatives from believers. The Ecumenical Synod without any of these component parts of the Church was not considered legal.
20. The Chronicles wrote about the Ukrainian Ecumenical Synods a long time ago. It is known about the Synod of 1147 under the reign of Kyiv prince Izyaslav II (at which Klym Smolyatych the outstanding scientist and public figure by free votes was elected and consecrated by relics of St Kliment as Metropolitan of Ukraine ) and about other Synods.
21. Synods were gathered as far as it was necessary, regional - for the most important affairs as election of Metropolitan and others, bishop - for election of bishops for eparchy , etc. The bishops were always chosen by the clergy with the believers.
The election of bishops always had good results because between bishops and people there was a strong living connection.
22. In eparchies Eparchial Synods ruled out at which in the majority with the right of decisive vote believers from parishes took part. Through Bishop Synods bishops learnt out their clergy and believers. In eparchies nobody from bishops ruled out independently, nobody from the clergy came to the parishioners uninvited.
23. On the basis of St. Letter (The Acts 1.2,15;.22,25; Rom 1.1; Pet. 1.10 and others), Holy Canons and Legends all priests and church servants and all members of bishop and other institutions elected in Ukrainian Church . All parish church power was chosen by the parish itself- it chose the candidate for the senior priest an the bishop blessed him or consecrated. When the church community didn't have their candidate for the senior priest he was appointed by the bishop at the consent of the church community.
24. "The election of church holy orders made the clergy very close with the people and this happened when the Ukrainian church suffered difficult times , especially when it was in the catholic Poland helped it extremely. Without any exaggeration one may say that if the Ukrainian Church had not accepted a wide system of unification legality and election of church holy orders with a great participation of high-society element, it wouldn't have survived catholic attacks in the times of Polish power",- says Archbishop +ILARION (Ohiyenko) ("Ukrainian Church", v.1, p.113).
25. The unification of the Ukrainian Church introduced already in prince's times is legalized by Canons which give the obligatory importance to local church traditions (I Ecumenical Synod 6,7,18; II Ecumenical Synod 2, III Ecumenical Synod 8; IV Ecumenical Synod 30, VI Ecumenical Synod 39 and others). The Symbol of faith teaches:" I believe ... in Single , Holy, United and Apostle Church." The system of unification existed in the Ukrainian Church till its enslavement by Moscow Church. The domination of one person or a group was not allowed.
26. The practice of the life of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church both from remote and recent times teaches us that participation of the people through their best people in the church direction is the first prerequisite of strength and magnificence of the Church.
27. The Moscow power having got control over the Ukrainian Church in the XVII century coarsely cancelled its unification -legality structure. The "synodal" structure was introduced in which the clergy and people didn't have the vote. By enslavement of the Ukrainian Church the Moscow government finished the action of full abolition of all democratic rights and freedoms of the Ukrainian people, the action which was begun after cancellation of Pereyaslavsky agreement what was a habitual phenomenon in Moscow's policy.
28. In 1917 when Moscow "church-grave" broke up, the Ukrainian Church arising from it began its new life on the grounds of its past and together with this - on the grounds of unification.
29. The unification legality of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church showed Its church life ability before God and Ukraine during the guidance of Metropolitans +VASILI Lypkiwsky and +MYKOLA Boretsky. In very difficult conditions unknown by the history of the last millenium this Church lived and acted under cruel attacks, similarly to the first Apostle Church , grew and when its sons went as in the first days of Christianity - to death. It existed and brighted with imperishable light of Christ's Truth and with it went to Calvary but didn't die as +VASILI Lypkiwsky says: "It is as Christ, Its Head, resurrected from dead, doesn't die more, the death doesn't have the power over it". It resurrected for the second time in the difficult times for Ukraine during the II World War and inspired its people by patriotism. It resurrected for the third time in 1990 before the declaration of independent Ukraine. It will resurrect again for the benefit of Ukraine when we will be all together as Christ's Apostles, (Acts II), clergy and people.
30. The sense of fulfilling a high duty of serving God to conduct services to their people inspired elected by the people archbishops and priests for the Gospel self-sacrifice.
31. The Unification is dear to the Ukrainian people as one of the main parts of its church's ideology. It, this church, cost them victims in the past and numerous victims in recent times. It is consecrated by the blood of bishops, priests and believers as the Church of first centuries of Christianity.
32. The task of every priest and every believer of St. Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church is to keep its unification as one of its main grounds in order to unite Christ's Church in Ukraine. It is necessary to remember that we don't prove anything new but create the deed which our ancestors did during centuries in accordance with Holy Gospel (Mathew. 5,17)., 8 rule of III Ecumenical Synod and others, which order to respect and take care for its native thing.
III. NATIONALITY
"Better go to lost sheep of Israel's home ".
(Mathew. 10.6)
33. All Orthodox Churches together are the Single- Soborna (Catholic, United)- All-world Church because they are united by the Single Highest Pastor Jesus Christ and have single dogma of faith based on Holy Writ and guided by Canons of Ecumenical Church Synods ( in that part which does not contradict Holy Writ and preserves spiritual- life expediency till now).
34. By forms of their life, their ideology all Orthodox Churches are national. Each of them has its language of divine services, their traditions and ceremonies, their calendar of Saints and their features in Divine Liturgies, their style of building temples and their art of church painting, their management control, on the whole their own religious-national world, because only in it man can easier learn the true God.
35. Each Orthodox Church respects and keeps its national features of serving to its people according to the teaching of Holy Gospel (Mathew 10.6, 15.24, 23,37; Mark 7.27; Luke 2.32 and others).
36. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church by its inner person is the member of All-world Orthodox Church. But its outer form which is conditioned by the spiritual originality of the Ukrainian people, It is a National Church.
37. During more than 7 centuries the Ukrainian Church led its people by the way of Christian-national life. It protected people from a spiritual decay in difficult times of its own state system, thanks to which the people kept themselves nationally in the days of the most violent pressure.
38. The Ukrainian Church taught the Ukrainian people to respect their Orthodox Faith, their traditions, their native language, their culture, love their region, because who doesn't love truly his/her nearest relation, friend, neighbour he is not a true Christian. In Holy Writ there are many instructive examples of Love to their relations (Neemiya 13.24,25, Mathew 10.14, 15, Luke 24, 21 and others).
39. Till the end of the XVIIIth century the Ukrainian Orthodox Church created the culture to its people. It gave them the education and first written language with wonderful " Word on Law and Grace". of Metropolitan +ILARION and brilliant "Word about Ihor's regiment". The Church created a magnificent church- architectural art and wonderful church song. It helped the people to possess rich national sacred treasures.
40. The clergy of the Ukrainian people till its full enslavement was determined by a high and sincere national patriotism, sacrificially served to the native country and in their happy days and days of misfortune. This spirit of Love to the native country and people remained in separate priest families till nowadays despite all pressure of the Russian government in Ukraine.
41. The Ukrainian monasteries were cultural fires in Ukraine, they served God by the service to their people, but not as in today's times of Moscow breed. Then in the calmness of monasteries , under monk's frocks the hearts of patriots were filled with love to the native Christian region. There, in monasteries our first national legends and our history were written , from where men of great ideas of religious-national and general human ideas came out. No one monastery of Orthodox East gave so many church and cultural figures as a well-known Kyevo-Pecherska Lavra gave till the time of enslavement of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by Moscow.
42. The national spirit of the Ukrainian Church resurrected in liberation days of the Ukrainian people in 1917. At once there appeared "Pastors who their soul will give for sheep" - (John, 10, 11). Their number multiplied when after three years a horrible danger of decay and abolition hung over the Ukrainian Nation. Preservation of spiritually-national essence of the native people with its cementation on the ground of Christian religion became the first task of the restored UAOC. The realization of that task inspired priests to sacrifice in the name of serving the people.
MISSION OF ORTHODOX CHURCH OF UKRAINE
In those days many of those whose hearts suffered for the fortune of the native region and people became pastors. The believers took the participation in the church life . The majority of their part became martyrs for Christ's Truth.
43. "No one Ukrainian organization did so much for national consciousness of the Ukrainian People as The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church did",- says Archbishop +ILARION Ohiyenko ("Ukrainian Church and our culture",- The report at Kholmsky Eparchial Synod in 1942", estimating the church and cultural life in Ukraine of that time. And especially the service of the UAOC for Ukraine is high because in 1924 being under the occupation of Poland the Orthodox Church got TOMOS about autonomy from the Ecumenical Patriarch, TOMOS to which a direct, inherited relation has our canonical hiearchical branch in order to serve today the Ukrainian people without accusation in non-canonicity and others.
44. Today's state of the life of the Ukrainian people depends very much on the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church responsible for their future. To be on guards of its people, pronounce aloud about their past and modern life, about their right of human being on the presented land by God before all Christian world - is one of the most important task of our Church.
To protect religious-national essence of its believers , to fill the soul of the young generation by belief in God, in full sense of its honesties, to free them from foreign, harmful "ideas", to unite all in United (Soborna) Church as sons of Ukraine, in their consciousness of their purpose before it and readiness to work for good of its people now and during the turn from this great "descend" is the duty of the Ukrainian clergy.
45. To fulfill its high and responsible task the UAOC will be able when It is a creative, advancing and inseparatedly linked with the people. Steadily standing on dogmatic and general-canonical grounds of orthodoxy the Ukrainian Church must clear its church life from foreign influences which happened as a result of a long staying under foreign State and church power.
46. The living native language is the basis of ideology of the Ukrainian Church. It is the closest way to God, Faith and spiritual-national originality. The native language in the Church was consecrated by descending Holy Spirit on Apostles and blessed by Holy Writ (Acts 2.8,9,10.11; I to Cor. 14.1-19; Mathew. 28.19; Mark 16.15,17 and others). "In the Church it is better to pronounce five words clearly that ten thousands words in a foreign language" - says St. Ap. Paul (to Cor. 1.14,19). The Church Slavonic language with the Russian pronunciation which was introduced in the Ukrainian Church after 1886 is only the means of denationalization of our people and could be used for the history to be kept in the museum under the table (5).
47. In all church divine services, in sermons, in printed word, in all spheres of the church life only native language should dominate - this is the most important point of the existence of the Ukrainian people as a separate nation. Without their native people there are no independent people. This is the truth which does not need any proofs.
48. The language of all church published editions - god-service books, prayer-books, periodicals, etc should be literary soborna, easily understandable and simple. The textbooks on religion should be written in an exemplary - pure Ukrainian language, in order to teach the language the youth. Everybody who writes should know the Ukrainian literary soborna language perfectly.
49. The clergy of the Ukrainian Church as the educator of the soul of the people should respect their native language and by this educate the respect to it and among believers. In the family and in the church one must use only native language, the priest who uses in his family or in the conservation with the believers the foreign language sins against the Ukrainian people and Church because he undermines the bases of his nation.
50. But it is not enough of native language in the Church in order it was national and spiritual and those are mistaken who consider the Ukrainian Church that one where only divine services are held in Ukrainian and all the rest remains of Russian breed. The Ukrainian Church is the church which turned away from Moscow- pharisee ways to its own historic way which renews its ideal- proper only to the Ukrainian people - the spirit of God's truth, Christian looks, its understanding of orthodoxy in its living content but not in the letter ( according to teaching of St Apostle Paul - "A letter kills but spirit brings back to life"). The church which renews its national features and properties , its calendar of Saints ( each Orthodox Church has its own calendar) , its local prayers introduced by epochal "Prayer-book" of Metropolitan +PETRO Mohyla - 37 holy orders, its customs in divine services ( the Gospel is read in front of the people), Eucharist communions are read aloud, before "Believe" the address to the believers with the words " Christ is among us" and so on) , its ancient magnificent song, its ceremonies. It is necessary to remember that old Ukrainian religious ceremonies are full of content and beauty, they always had an educating importance , that is why they must be renewed it is necessary to restore all that during seven centuries (from X till XVIII) formed the religious consciousness of our people, made them godlike and strengthened their spiritually and nationally.
51. Nationality of the Ukrainian Church as we see is not "Ukrainization", such understanding of the historical view would be quite untrue but the return to its sound root. "The fortune of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is connected not with guiding its energy to scornful, sometimes very materialistic by its tendencies 'ukrainization' but with inside spiritual religious rise. And this religious rise will undoubtedly bring great benefit for Ukraine, because it will be called by its people who will be Ukrainians not only by their material tendencies but by their inner ideal and spiritual strength"
(V. Lypywsky "Religion and Church in the history of Ukraine", p. 98).
52. The Ukrainian Church by its inside content, its understanding of Christ's teaching always radiated into all sides and the beauty of its national forms - architecture, splendour of icons, wonderful songs, godlike and modest behaviour of believers during divine services surprised all foreigners by its ceremonies , as we know this from historical documents.
Love of the Ukrainian people to Church, their religiosity were known all over the whole Europe. Everybody from prince to commoners on Sunday and Holiday were in Churches.
53. To renew beneficial Christian traditions of the Ukrainian people, rise them to the former level of magnificence and beauty the UAOC will be able only on the national ground. Because these traditions grew from the bases of national essence of the people in the spirit of Christianity , therefore by this spirit they have to be renewed. This renewal will begin as sooner as quicker the conductors will act filled by their own spiritual value and understanding of the sense of these traditions.
54. To renew the Ukrainian Orthodoxy , that is created by centuries (X-XVIII) on the national ground the world of Christian life of the Ukrainian people in accordance with modern life demands is one of the most important tasks of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church.
IV. INDEPENDENCE OF HIGH-SOCIETY POWER
55. The Church is the the institution of God, Creator of Universe in the eternity. God's temple is for man a quiet place among "worldy sea, agitated by the storm of misfortune".
Only in the temple in the hours of sorrow man finds calming and joy of the soul that means that Heavenly Kingdom is inside us. The Church blesses man's life from the day of his/her birth till the act of transition into the beyond and for the eternity of the soul prays to God.
56. The Church must be neither state nor under the influence of the state. It is higher over material earthy affairs. However the Church can't be torn away on the Earth but has to occupy such its piece of land which any other organization can't occupy. Taking care of saving the souls, the Church should think about the happiness of the people on the earth on the grounds of Christ's truths.
57. By its high authority the Church has to unite its believers , guide them by the way of spiritual perfection, protect them from the Spirit of decay and strengthen the Spirit of Christian and national honesties. Тhat is why the Church in these its tasks helps to the high-society power if the activity of the latter is aimed at the way of Christian ideas and takes the activity of the Church positively, by the way of symphony and harmony of interrelations with It. Such harmony is possible only when the state power is in God's hands of wise men who respect the authority of the Church and are its true sons themselves.
58. The history teaches us that it is not enough to have only state high-society laws to get evil instincts of human nature. We know that created by people (political) deeds are easily ruined by the people themselves. The highest over all is God's Law that equally binds all the people, and only the authority of the Church - (power not from this world) which this God's Law of Life preserves and watches after its execution in the state of harmonic control of human life in prosperity and symphony with God.
59. The Church must be the highest authority which saves the obligatory for all people "God's Law of public and family morality", (6) the authority which restrains evil human instincts but cherishes good instincts. The Church is only when It is independent of high-society power. This independence however must not lead the Church for the state of somehow closed institution in itself because then It will loose its usefulness because it will not have a complete organizing influence on the public life. The Church also looses its authority when it becomes an instrument for service in the hands of those who rule in the State because when the latter abuse their power , it means that the Church promotes their abuse of power. .
60. To hold its saving action and authority of "Divine power, not from this world" the Church can only when It being under its full independence of the high-society power influences as an organizing element upon the society in the sphere of religious and spiritual-national life. And under the terms of political-national being of its people and in difficult times of loosing its state system, for them the Church is a great life-giving uniting force which stands on its spiritual- God's grounds. The history of the Ukrainian people teaches us this.
61. The Ukrainian Church during its free life (X-XVIIIc.) was independent from the high-society power. By its high authority It influenced the latter differentiating deeply God's and high-society's based on Christ's science: "Give King's to King and God's to God". The Ukrainian Church never disturbed orders of Holy Writ to please the high-society power because by this It would violate its spiritual authority which is its essence and proves its existence , that is why during all the times Christ's Church was persecuted by God - struggling power.
62. The Ukrainian Metropolitans and bishops were always the closest advisers of Ukrainian princes and hetmans. The system of symphony or harmony between the Church and State in Ukraine-Rus especially developed Kyiv State in the 11-13th centuries , as the basis of which was the idea of union of the Church and State in the struggle with evil in the world and in saving people. The idea of such union is developed in Apostle epistles (Rom. XIII, 1-7; Tim. II, 13-17). The harmony of interrelations and cooperation of spiritual and high-society powers proceeded from the mutual understanding that the material strength can't be without the spiritual strength that the State can't exist without the Church. Fulfilling the duty of serving the people the church power never forgot that it can't fulfill the tasks of high-society power when it doesn't want to turn the Church from the eternal institution , God's into a temporary , prince's institution. By its halo of spirituality, its over high-society authority the Ukrainian Church was invincible till its enslavement in 1686 by the Moscow tsar-papism.
63. The high - society power in Ukraine in the times of its state life, highly respected the authority of Religion and Church , in all affairs of spiritual character it always obeyed before the Church, no one state affair without its blessing didn't do. The orders of the Church in the spiritual sphere for all - from the king to the last citizen were obligatory. The authority of the Ukrainian Church was respected in the Lithuanian period of the Ukrainian history. Even Tatars didn't disturb it.
64. The independence of a spiritual power in Ukraine from the high-society one , harmony of relations between them, extraordinarily promoted the development of the Ukrainian Church. Its clergy were not only spiritual but national conductors of their people as it was in the Apostle Church. Serving God by divine services to their people the Ukrainian clergy Christianized the people's life from the bottom to the top.
65. The high authority of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as high-society power was after shameful 1686 coarsely broken by Moscow godless tsarism . By violent measures during the reign of Tsar Peter the First and tsarina Kateryna the Second everything which was church Ukrainian was taken away from Ukraine, oppressed, ruined. Church books of Ukrainian printing were burnt, many-aged local religious customs were prohibited. The spiritual legacy of the Ukrainian Church was buried under a hard gravestone of the Tsar synod.
66. In liberation days (1917-1920) a spiritual authority of the Ukrainian Church rwas restored. But against it by all their might, Moscow bishops in Ukraine and part of clergy rebelled - this "church inventory of the Russian government". (7)This clergy in the majority of Russian breed by origin and views, in lesser part by its slave psychology could not agree with the rebirth of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Accustomed to dead canonicity and mechanical "orthodoxy" it expected the loss of its supremacy and material interests over the church in the Ukrainian church movement.
67. After defeat of free independent life of the Ukrainian people which was built on Christian bases the conditions of the UAOC were difficult. But its spiritual authority was high because all its activity was built on the Gospel truth, on love , on the unity with the people. Later on in the times of triple violence before which the shades of Neron and Dioklitian become pale this authority was oppressed but not won.
68. In troubled days of hard tests of our nation in 1941-1944 the authority of canonical members of higher orders of clergy of the UAOC was many times abused and humiliated by a heartless conqueror, it was a single strength that gave life to the tired soul of the people and gave them the Spirit of self-restrain and endurance in the hope for the better future. In the struggle with oppressors-princes of darkness of this century the authority of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church based on Soborna (Catholic, United) equality renewed in our times.
69. A millennium experience of Ukrainian religious- Christian life teaches us that the Church is the highest a spiritual property for the nation and that Its power as God's establishment is only then "the power not from this world" when It is free from the influences of the high society power upon It, when It gives back "King's - to King's and God's - to God".
70. Understanding of its purpose and its responsibility before God and Nation and before its conscience, private spiritual self-perfection on the Gospel truths, labour and labour to fill the man's life by the content of Christian honesties are the principal bases of spiritual authority of our ecclesiastics and with that the whole Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church to unite all the Churches in Ukraine and outside its boundaries on the basis of Sobornaya (Catholicism, Unification).
Basis of Church Autocephaly
"And went Jesus about all towns and villages teaching in schools, preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, curing all illnesses of people" (Мат. 9.35).
In such general features the Holy Gospel describes before us that great work which Christ did on the earth. But not only Christ went about all towns and villages when He lived on the earth. We believe that Christ goes throughout the earth nowadays, among all peoples, He is in our Ukraine, in each our village and even in each house, in each soul He has his place, He cares for everybody, preaches the Gospel of His Kingdom, curing any illness in them.
We believe that He is not far, that not him but He looks for us and is in us.
The final task of Christ's work is to unite all Christ's children and cure in them any illness that separates them for all ages.
But the first step to the all-world unification is the unification of Christ's children of all peoples into the United (Sobornaya) Church. It means the all-world unification of all Ukrainian communities spread all over the world.
How can people unite into their Church? The Church is a free brothershood of people of good will, free unification of Christ's children. By only free will the united people will create the true Christ's Church, the head of which will be Christ himself. Christ's blessing messengers should come with blessing message because Christ said,
"Go, and teach all peoples" (Mat. 28,19).
And who had to guide those Churches which Apostles- blessing-messengers created ? The Church of every nation should be guided by itself, should by its own strength and help of Christ's grace build its life, elect the workers among themselves for serving the Church. Only under such condition of voluntary building of the Church of each nation Christ's life can be fully and in detail revealed in himself/herself as Apostle Paulo says "be a live stone in the structure of its Church" (I Petr, 2.5). So, one of the main grounds of the life of each Christ's Church is its will, independence in its church administration. And Christ's unification between Churches of each nation is possible only as a free brothershood of Churches.
The word "autocephaly" is Greek, being translated it means "he is the head for himself". The autocephalous church is that Church which is the head for itself, creates its guiding bodies for itself , freely lives by its church life itself in the brotherhood unity with other Churches.
The Russian bishops and clergy in Ukraine who used to guide its Church by the orders of Russian synods and Patriarch, as we called themselves autocephalists and were separated from "foreign Russian guidance" became to name us "splitters", besides among our people lacking social understanding the word – autocephaly became almost abusive, it was twisted, mocked at and such a situation continues nowadays.
As a result of all this, the people laugh at the main founder of the church – Christ.
That the Ukrainian Church was under Moscow church power was a real fact but was it in accordance with God's truth, and wasn't it a great violation of any truth?
The dependence of the Ukrainian Church of Moscow church in 1686 – is such a lie that the Russian bishops must turn red , be silent about it, and when they are God's children they must turn from it but not to defend it. .The history about the dependence of the Ukrainian church of Moscow power says how it was done, how Moscow tsar without consent of the Ukrainian church for the money and presents bought the Ukrainian Church from Tsarhorod Patriarch for themselves. What a great lie!. And violence was used, too during this action.
Thus, getting rid of Moscow Patriarch the Ukrainian Church restored God's truth against the human falsehood, corrected a great historical falsehood of its church life, to which it was forced to die. "We, clergy, believe in the victory of holy truth of the Ukrainian Church over the hostile, human falsehood . We express our hopes that all in all, the truth will dominate in Ukraine. The Ukrainian people will free from all-aged shackles and the Church will freely annunciate the Word of Christ's truth." For this great martyrs died for Ukraine.
"Our native Earth, Our Native People have such a hard fortune during a long time that in certain terms any streams of water flood them. Once, it is said, that the whole Ukraine was flooded by the sea. But the sea went down, the ice melted and it, as a flower bloomed and accepted our native people. But several times it was repeated again.
Maybe still during the times of migration of peoples in IV-V centuries the folk water streams flooded our forefathers on their earth. Then already in historical times our people were flooded by polovetsky, Tartar and Crimean oppressors. But all these oppressors came and went away and our people live and prosper.. Not only physical, but also spiritual Polish-Moscow flood turned into ruins the earth as well as the soul of our people themselves. But also as it came , in the same way it went away, and our people live and revive. We believe in God that an awful communist flood that by its waves tried to take away the people's belief and all that is the dearest for them, all their human nature, their will, nation, also disappears as it came and the people will be saved from it and will live. The main thing is to get rid of Moscow ferment. And Holy Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church the same as Christ,its Head, having resurrected from dead will no longer die and death has no power over it".
In such general features the Holy Gospel describes before us that great work which Christ did on the earth. But not only Christ went about all towns and villages when He lived on the earth. We believe that Christ goes throughout the earth nowadays, among all peoples, He is in our Ukraine, in each our village and even in each house, in each soul He has his place, He cares for everybody, preaches the Gospel of His Kingdom, curing any illness in them.
We believe that He is not far, that not him but He looks for us and is in us.
The final task of Christ's work is to unite all Christ's children and cure in them any illness that separates them for all ages.
But the first step to the all-world unification is the unification of Christ's children of all peoples into the United (Sobornaya) Church. It means the all-world unification of all Ukrainian communities spread all over the world.
How can people unite into their Church? The Church is a free brothershood of people of good will, free unification of Christ's children. By only free will the united people will create the true Christ's Church, the head of which will be Christ himself. Christ's blessing messengers should come with blessing message because Christ said,
"Go, and teach all peoples" (Mat. 28,19).
And who had to guide those Churches which Apostles- blessing-messengers created ? The Church of every nation should be guided by itself, should by its own strength and help of Christ's grace build its life, elect the workers among themselves for serving the Church. Only under such condition of voluntary building of the Church of each nation Christ's life can be fully and in detail revealed in himself/herself as Apostle Paulo says "be a live stone in the structure of its Church" (I Petr, 2.5). So, one of the main grounds of the life of each Christ's Church is its will, independence in its church administration. And Christ's unification between Churches of each nation is possible only as a free brothershood of Churches.
The word "autocephaly" is Greek, being translated it means "he is the head for himself". The autocephalous church is that Church which is the head for itself, creates its guiding bodies for itself , freely lives by its church life itself in the brotherhood unity with other Churches.
The Russian bishops and clergy in Ukraine who used to guide its Church by the orders of Russian synods and Patriarch, as we called themselves autocephalists and were separated from "foreign Russian guidance" became to name us "splitters", besides among our people lacking social understanding the word – autocephaly became almost abusive, it was twisted, mocked at and such a situation continues nowadays.
As a result of all this, the people laugh at the main founder of the church – Christ.
That the Ukrainian Church was under Moscow church power was a real fact but was it in accordance with God's truth, and wasn't it a great violation of any truth?
The dependence of the Ukrainian Church of Moscow church in 1686 – is such a lie that the Russian bishops must turn red , be silent about it, and when they are God's children they must turn from it but not to defend it. .The history about the dependence of the Ukrainian church of Moscow power says how it was done, how Moscow tsar without consent of the Ukrainian church for the money and presents bought the Ukrainian Church from Tsarhorod Patriarch for themselves. What a great lie!. And violence was used, too during this action.
Thus, getting rid of Moscow Patriarch the Ukrainian Church restored God's truth against the human falsehood, corrected a great historical falsehood of its church life, to which it was forced to die. "We, clergy, believe in the victory of holy truth of the Ukrainian Church over the hostile, human falsehood . We express our hopes that all in all, the truth will dominate in Ukraine. The Ukrainian people will free from all-aged shackles and the Church will freely annunciate the Word of Christ's truth." For this great martyrs died for Ukraine.
"Our native Earth, Our Native People have such a hard fortune during a long time that in certain terms any streams of water flood them. Once, it is said, that the whole Ukraine was flooded by the sea. But the sea went down, the ice melted and it, as a flower bloomed and accepted our native people. But several times it was repeated again.
Maybe still during the times of migration of peoples in IV-V centuries the folk water streams flooded our forefathers on their earth. Then already in historical times our people were flooded by polovetsky, Tartar and Crimean oppressors. But all these oppressors came and went away and our people live and prosper.. Not only physical, but also spiritual Polish-Moscow flood turned into ruins the earth as well as the soul of our people themselves. But also as it came , in the same way it went away, and our people live and revive. We believe in God that an awful communist flood that by its waves tried to take away the people's belief and all that is the dearest for them, all their human nature, their will, nation, also disappears as it came and the people will be saved from it and will live. The main thing is to get rid of Moscow ferment. And Holy Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church the same as Christ,its Head, having resurrected from dead will no longer die and death has no power over it".
Apostolic Canons
(prohibits praying with an excommunicated person)
CANON 10. If any one shall pray, even in a private house, with an excommunicated person, let him also be excommunicated.
(prohibits praying with a deposed clergyman)
CANON 11. If any clergyman shall join in prayer with a deposed clergyman, as if he were a clergyman, let him also be deposed.
(prohibits bishop from divorcing)
CANON 5. Let not a bishop, presbyter, or deacon, put away his wife under pretence of religion; but if he put her away, let him be excommunicated; and if he persists, let him be deposed.
(prohibits bishop from getting married with divorced woman and some others)
CANON 18. He who married a widow, or a divorced woman, or an harlot, or a servant-maid, or an actress, cannot be a bishop, presbyter, or deacon, or any other of the sacerdotal list.
(leaving private goods of the bishop for his family after death...)
CANON 40. Let the private goods of the bishop, if he have any such, and those of the Lord, be clearly distinguished, that the bishop may have the power of leaving his own goods, when he dies, to whom he will, and how he will, and that the bishop's own property may not be lost under pretence of its being the property of the Church: for it may be that he has a wife, or children, or relations, or servants; and it is just before God and man, that neither should the Church suffer any loss through ignorance of the bishop's own property, nor the bishop or his relations be injured under pretext of the Church: nor that those who belong to him should be involved in contests, and cast reproaches upon his death.
( if any bishop abstains from marriage)
CANON 51. If any bishop, presbyter, or deacon, or any one of the sacerdotal list, abstains from marriage, or flesh, or wine, not by way of religious restraint, but as abhorring them, forgetting that God made all things very good, and that he made man male and female, and blaspheming the work of creation, let him be corrected, or else be deposed, and cast out of the Church. In like manner a layman.
( a bishop must not ordain his son to the episcopal dignity)
CANON 76. A bishop must not, out of favour to a brother or a son, or any other relation, ordain whom he will to the episcopal dignity; for it is not right to make heirs of the bishopric, giving the things of God to human affections. Neither is it fitting to subject the Church of God to heirs. But if anyone shall do so let the ordination be void, and the ordainer himself be punished with excommunication.
NICE, THE SEVENTH ECUMENICAL COUNCIL
(Chorepiscopi is permitted to ordain a reader with the bishop's authorization)
CANON 14. ... It is permitted to each hegumenos in his own monastery to ordain a reader, if he himself had received the laying on of hands by a bishop to the dignity of hegumenos, and is known to be a presbyter. Chorepiscopi may likewise, according to ancient custom and with the bishop's authorization, appoint readers.
It is stated as well in (Canons of St. Basil the Great, 89; Antioch.-10, Ancyr.-13.)
CONSTANTINOPLE SIXTH ECUMENICAL COUNCIL
(According to the church canons the UAOC of the second formation comes back to homeland after 60 years of persecutions)
CANON 18. Clergymen who on the pretext of an incursion of barbarians, or as a result of any other circumstance, have emigrated, whenever their exigency has ceased, or the incursions of barbarians, on account of which they made their departure, are commanded to return to their own churches, and not to stay away from them for a long time without a good excuse. If anyone fails to conduct himself agreeably to the present Canon, let him be excommunicated until he returns to his own church. Let this same rule apply also to the Bishop who is keeping him.
CANON 10. If any one shall pray, even in a private house, with an excommunicated person, let him also be excommunicated.
(prohibits praying with a deposed clergyman)
CANON 11. If any clergyman shall join in prayer with a deposed clergyman, as if he were a clergyman, let him also be deposed.
(prohibits bishop from divorcing)
CANON 5. Let not a bishop, presbyter, or deacon, put away his wife under pretence of religion; but if he put her away, let him be excommunicated; and if he persists, let him be deposed.
(prohibits bishop from getting married with divorced woman and some others)
CANON 18. He who married a widow, or a divorced woman, or an harlot, or a servant-maid, or an actress, cannot be a bishop, presbyter, or deacon, or any other of the sacerdotal list.
(leaving private goods of the bishop for his family after death...)
CANON 40. Let the private goods of the bishop, if he have any such, and those of the Lord, be clearly distinguished, that the bishop may have the power of leaving his own goods, when he dies, to whom he will, and how he will, and that the bishop's own property may not be lost under pretence of its being the property of the Church: for it may be that he has a wife, or children, or relations, or servants; and it is just before God and man, that neither should the Church suffer any loss through ignorance of the bishop's own property, nor the bishop or his relations be injured under pretext of the Church: nor that those who belong to him should be involved in contests, and cast reproaches upon his death.
( if any bishop abstains from marriage)
CANON 51. If any bishop, presbyter, or deacon, or any one of the sacerdotal list, abstains from marriage, or flesh, or wine, not by way of religious restraint, but as abhorring them, forgetting that God made all things very good, and that he made man male and female, and blaspheming the work of creation, let him be corrected, or else be deposed, and cast out of the Church. In like manner a layman.
( a bishop must not ordain his son to the episcopal dignity)
CANON 76. A bishop must not, out of favour to a brother or a son, or any other relation, ordain whom he will to the episcopal dignity; for it is not right to make heirs of the bishopric, giving the things of God to human affections. Neither is it fitting to subject the Church of God to heirs. But if anyone shall do so let the ordination be void, and the ordainer himself be punished with excommunication.
NICE, THE SEVENTH ECUMENICAL COUNCIL
(Chorepiscopi is permitted to ordain a reader with the bishop's authorization)
CANON 14. ... It is permitted to each hegumenos in his own monastery to ordain a reader, if he himself had received the laying on of hands by a bishop to the dignity of hegumenos, and is known to be a presbyter. Chorepiscopi may likewise, according to ancient custom and with the bishop's authorization, appoint readers.
It is stated as well in (Canons of St. Basil the Great, 89; Antioch.-10, Ancyr.-13.)
CONSTANTINOPLE SIXTH ECUMENICAL COUNCIL
(According to the church canons the UAOC of the second formation comes back to homeland after 60 years of persecutions)
CANON 18. Clergymen who on the pretext of an incursion of barbarians, or as a result of any other circumstance, have emigrated, whenever their exigency has ceased, or the incursions of barbarians, on account of which they made their departure, are commanded to return to their own churches, and not to stay away from them for a long time without a good excuse. If anyone fails to conduct himself agreeably to the present Canon, let him be excommunicated until he returns to his own church. Let this same rule apply also to the Bishop who is keeping him.
