NEW YORK: Leaders of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) in the Diaspora praised recent comments by Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) regarding church unification.

"His Holiness Patriarch Filaret," said Metropolitan Mykhayil (Javchak Champion) of the UAOC-Diaspora, "underscores that a Ukrainian Church cannot be Ukrainian if it submits to Moscow, Constantinople, or any other foreign see. His message must be repeated. Ukraine's spiritual individualism cannot be extinguished or integrated into an artificial community."

According to Bishop Paul Peter Jesep, who is Metropolitan Mefodiy's UAOC designated American spokesperson, "A Ukrainian Church answers to God. It does not submit to church politicians dressed expensively in a foreign city."

Bishop Paul Peter added, "collectively the UAOC and UOC-KP make up one of the world's largest Orthodox communities and needs no one's political, temporal, or spiritual permission to be a faith community. Ukrainians must stop asking permission of foreigners. Ukrainians are a church before God. Not Moscow! Not Constantinople! Not Rome! Ukrainians are not spiritual serfs! Ukrainians answer to the Creator and no one else."

Metropolitan Mykhayil reflected that, "the words of the Patriarch confirm what we have surmised for a long time now. As His Holiness points out, the goals of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and those who support a united and autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church are quite different."

"We tried to warn leaders of this reality last year, when there was so much hysteria following the visit of Bartholomew to Kyiv. Alas, our opinions fell on deaf ears, in the aftermath of a pastoral visit that possessed more qualities of stardom than of Christian service and was whitewashed by the comfort of valuable gifts and visions of false hopes," concluded the Metropolitan.

In December 2008, New York Governor David Paterson issued a signed Citation praising the individual work of UAOC leaders Metropolitan Mykhayil (Javchak Champion) and Bishop Paul Peter Jesep. Both were recognized by the New York Governor for their consistent leadership in uniting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Click here or on the link above to read an article about the Governor Paterson's Citation. You may read the actual Citation by clicking here.

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UOC-KP Patriarch Stresses Unification in Interview