Orthodox News

Vatican, Dec. 29 (CWNews.com) – The Vatican has acknowledged the controversial move by Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, the Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, who in August transferred his see from Lviv to the Ukrainian capital city of Kiev, despite angry opposition from the Russian Orthodox Church.

A terse public statement released on December 29 by the Vatican Information Service announced that Cardinal Husar had named Bishop Ihor Vozniak as the new Archbishop of Lviv. The Vatican announcement identified Cardinal Husar by his new title as “Archbishop Major of Kiev-Halyc.”

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Moscow, December 16, Interfax – The Kievan Patriarchate, which is not recognized in the Orthodox world, has appealed to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to recognize this schismatic structure as the Local and Autocephalous Church of Ukraine.

The authors of the appeal, signed by Archbishop Dimitry Rudyuk, a vicar of Patriarch Philaret, and Peoples Deputy Lilia Grigorovich, maintain that the recognition of the Kievan Patriarchate by Constantinople and other Local Churches is expected by millions of the Orthodox in Ukraine.

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Moscow, December 6, Interfax – Head of the state department for religious affairs of the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice Igor Bondarchuk said that his department had not been charged with fulfilling assignments of governmental agencies. It has neither received appeals from church leaders concerning opening of representations of the Patriarchate of Constantinople nor ever initiated it.

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2005.11.27 Interfax:

Leaders of world Orthodoxy give unanimous support to the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Kiev, November 27, Interfax – The celebrations held this week to mark the 70th birthday of Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine have become an occasion for Orthodox Churches throughout the world to express their solidarity with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church experiencing difficulties because of a schism in Orthodoxy in Ukraine. Thirteen prominent representatives out of fifteen autocephalous Churches came to Kiev and all they, speaking on behalf of their primates, expressed unconditional support for the head of the UOC, a self-governed part of the Moscow Patriarchate.

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Kiev, November 28, Interfax – Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine disapproves of President Viktor Yushchenkos policy concerning Christian confessions, since the head of the state supports schismatics.

I might support him as the president, but I do not support him as a religious believer, metropolitan Vladimir said. – When visiting the churches of different confessions, he supports all Orthodox churches in Ukraine, including those headed by schismatics, the metropolitan said in an interview published by an Ukrainian Korrespondent magazine last week.

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