Communion

The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, November 13, 1924, concerning the declaration of the Orthodox Church in Poland as an Autocephalic Church.

+GREGORIOS VII, by the grace of God Archbishop of Constantinople – The New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch

The Holy Orthodox Church in the God-Protected Polish State, endowed with an autonomous system and administration and proving its firmness in faith, zealousness by charitable works has requested our Holy Apostolic and Ecumenical Patriarchal See to bless and confirm its autocephalous administrative system, considering that in the new circumstances of political life, only such a system can satisfy and guarantee its needs.

Examining this request with love, taking into consideration the structions of the holy canons, which have established that the system of church affairs should correspond with the political and community forms (IV Ecumenical Council, canon 17, VI Ecumenical Council, canon 38), as well as the reasoning of Photius: “It is acceptable that laws which relate to church affairs, and especially parish matters, should correspond with political and administrative changes”, from another point of view, bowing before the demands of canonical obligations, which impose upon our Holy Ecumenical See concern for Orthodox Churches, who are in need; considering also the fact, which is not contradicted by history (for it is recorded that the first separation from our See of the Kyivan Metropolia and the Orthodox Metropolia of Lithuania and Poland, dependent upon it, as well as their incorporation within the Holy Moscovite Church was accomplished contrary to canon law, as also all that which was agreed upon regarding the full church autonomy of the Kyivan Metropolitan, who at the time had the title Exarch of the Ecumenical See), We and our Holy Metropolitans, Our beloved brothers and co-workers in the Holy Spirit, considered it our obligation to give ear to the request presented to Us by the Holy Orthodox Church in Poland and to give Our blessing and approval to its autocephalous and independent administration.

As a consequence of this conciliar decision, following the guidance of the Holy Spirit, We have decided: to recognize an autocephalic administration for the Orthodox Church in Poland and give our blessings to this, so that from this day on It may be governed as a spiritual Sister, and decided Its affairs independently and in an autocephalic manner, according to the regulations and unlimited rights of other Holy Autocephalic Orthodox Churches, recognizing as its Supreme Church Authority, the Holy Synod, composed of orthodox canonical bishops in Poland, whose president shall at all times be the Blessed Metropolitan of Warsaw and of all Poland. To preserve and canonically maintain united with Our Holy Apostolic Ecumenical Patriarchal See, as well as with all other Autocephalic Orthodox Churches, We mention here the obligations which every Metropolitan of Warsaw and of all Poland will have: ie. to inform, according to the regulations of the Holy Orthodox, of his election and enthronization by an enthronization letter Our Great Christian Church as well as all other Autocephalous Orthodox Sister-Churches: To retain everything related to a firm maintenance of the Faith and Orthodox piety, as well as all that is commanded by the holy canons and regulations of the Orthodox Church; to also commemorate in accordance with regulations in the Diptychs the name of the Ecumenical Patriarch and other Patriarchs as well as the Hierarchs of other Autocephalic Churches. In addition to this we decree, that the Autocephalous Orthodox Sister-Church in Poland must obtain its Holy Myrh (oil) from Our Great Christian Church. We advise at this time, that in matters concerning church order and in matters of a more general nature, which are beyond the jurisdictional limits of every Autocephalous Church acting individually, that the Blessed Metropolitan of Warsaw and of all Poland to apply to Our Holy Ecumenical Patriarchal See, through whose mediation union with every Orthodox Church, “… rightly teaching the word of truth” and request authoritive opinions and help from Sister-Churches.

Having carefully reviewed and considered all this at canonical meetings of the Holy Synod on the sixth and eleventh of November, 1924, We have entrusted, after the approval of the Synod, this Synodical and Patriarchal Tomos, accurately and unalteredly copied, as it is recorded in the Codex of Our Great Christian Church, to the Blessed +DIONISIJ, Our beloved brother and co-worker in Christ, Metropolitan of Warsaw and of all Poland and President of the Holy Synod of the Autocephalic Orthodox Church in Poland.

May the Lord God strengthen unto the ages, by the grace and merits of the First Great and Supreme Pastor, Christ our God, the Autocephalous Sister-Church in Poland, so fortunately organized, may He raise and increase everything in it to the glory of His Holy Name, for the benefit of Its pious flock and for the joy of all Autocephalous Orthodox Sister Churches.

In the year of Our Lord 1924, November 13th.

The Patriarch of Constantinople, +GREGORIOS VII (Approved).

The Metropolitan of Kiza, +KALYNYK

The Metropolitan of Sardia and Pisidia, +HERMAN

The Metropolitan of Nicea, BASIL

The Metropolitan of Chaldea, +JOAKIM

The Metropolitan of Philadelphia, +PHOTIUS

The Metropolitan of Derkos, +CONSTANTINE

The Metropolitan of Syliria, +EUGENE

The Metropolitan of Brus, +NICODEMOUS

The Metropolitan of Rodopolia, +CYRIL

The Metropolitan of the Princes Islands, +AHAFANAHEL

The Metropolitan of Neocesarea, +AMBROSIOS

The Metropolitan of Anea, +THOMAS

(According to the French translation from the original Greek, Translator, Konstantinidis.)

The Ecumenical Patriarchate, November 13, 1924

Chancellor HERMAN, Metropolitan of Sardia

In 1913, Patriarch Gregory IV (Haddad), with St. Anthony (Khrapovitsky – Metropolitan of Kyiv and later founding chief hierarch of the synodal Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia), with seven other bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church restored the Orthodox episcopate to the vacant Sees of the Orthodox Church of Poland by ordaining Metropolitan Dionisij (Valedynsky) of Warsaw, who became the head of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Poland when Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory VIII issued a Tomos in 1924 for the Autocephaly of the Polish and Ukrainian Churches, which was later annulled in 1948 by the Moscow Patriarchate for political reasons.

In 1921 an All-Ukrainian Sobor (Synod) was called in Kyiv, the capital of the newly independent Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was declared independent from the Moscow Patriarchate (MP). The Sobor delegates chose Metropolitan Vasyl Lypkivsky as head of the church. The 1921 Sobor has become known as the “First Resurrection” of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

Ukrainian independence was short-lived in this period, and in 1922 the USSR came into being. The Soviets introduced an atheistic regime, though initially the Church was allowed to function, as a tool against the more adverse Russian Orthodox Church, from 1930’s the Ukrainian Church was persecuted, and eventually legally disbanded in Soviet Ukraine, only to exist in an underground Orthodox Church.

In 1924, Metropolitan Dionisij of Warsaw acting as principal consecrator, with Archbishop Feodosij (Feodoseiy) Archbishop Oleksij (Hromadskyj), Bishop Simon (Ivanovskyj), and Bishop Sava (Sovyetov) restored the Orthodox Episcopate to Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in consecrating Metropolitan Polikarp (Sikorsky) of Kyiv.

During World War II, when Ukraine was a battleground between the German and Soviet Armies, Orthodox Ukrainians enjoyed somewhat increased freedom under German occupation. In May 1942, with the blessing of Metropolitan Dionisij, more than a dozen bishops were consecrated in St. Andrew Cathedral, Kyiv, in fulfillment of the 1924 tomos of the Ecumenical Patriarch. Finally, it seemed that ecclesiastical order could be established for the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. This time is referred to as the “Second Resurrection of the Ukrainian Church” of the Church. However, it, too, was short-lived.

On February 9th, 1942, Metropolitan Polikarp (Sikorsky) of Kyiv who, with Archbishop Olexander (Inozemtsev) and Bishop Yuri (Korenastov), and with Metropolitan Dionisij’s blessing, consecrated Metropolitan Nikanor (Abrymovych).

On the 8th of October, 1942, Archbishop Nikanor and Bishop Mstyslav (Skrypnyk) of the UAOC and Metropolitan Oleksiy (Hromadsky) of the Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church entered into an Act of Union at the Pochayiv Lavra, uniting these two church hierarchies. Pro-Russian hierarchs of the Autonomous Church convinced Metropolitan Oleksiy to withdraw his signature. Metropolitan Oleksiy was allegedly executed in Volhynia on the 7th of May, 1943, by members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). That year, Metropolitan Nikanor was the principal consecrator, with the co-consecrators Ihor (Huba), Manuyil (Tarnavskyj), Michael (Khoroshyj – later Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada), Sylvester (Haevskyj) and Mstyslav (Skrypnyk – later Archbishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, then Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the United States, and finally first Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus-Ukraine at its re-founding in 1993) at the ordination of Metropolitan Hryhorij (Ohijchuk sometimes rendered “Osijchuk”).

The Russian Orthodox Church regained its general monopoly after World War II in the Ukrainian SSR. Most of the other churches were liquidated, as the Soviet government only recognized the Moscow Patriarchate (MP). The MP was revived at the time as the only legitimate church in most of the Soviet Union. Many accused it of being a puppet of the Communist Party. Any Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church hierarchs or clergy who remained in Ukraine and refused to join the Russian Church were executed or sent to concentration camps. Metropolitan Hryhorij was one of the bishops that escaped into exile in the US.

In 1981, Metropolitan Hryhorij, of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the USA, with co-consecrators, Archbishops Anderei and Spyridon, also of the Ukrainian Church, consecrated Bishop Nicholas (Lambrou). Then, in 1991, Bp. Nicholas was elevated to the position of Archbishop by Metropolitan Christoforos of Ilyria and Archbishop Constantine of Samos to the continuing faction of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the USA, which chose affiliation with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (KP), rather than come under Constantinople. The Elevation took place at Saint Spyridon, Greek Orthodox Church, Miami, Florida.

Many UAOC bishops and priests were able to escape to the West, where they established the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church of America (not the current group using this name, under Abp. Mikhail, which is an imposter church due to its stance on homosexual unions and anti-canonical behavior). This jurisdiction provided consecrations in 1991 and 1992 in the “Third Resurrection of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church”, when the Ukrainian Government consented to recognize the paperwork for its 1924 establishment and autocephaly. In 1993, over half of the bishops remaining in the United States decided to join the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and established a Ukrainian Vicariate within the Greek Church, and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church of America was dissolved. The hierarchs who resisted this collapsing of the UAOC either entered the newly re-formed and recognized Kyivan Patriarchate, or went on to create the Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The Kyivan Patriarchate’s Vicariate in America now also contains several parishes that came over during this time. Our Synod, along with several others, maintained fidelity of faith and order with our origins, keeping the Orthodox Archdiocese of America canonically regular, while not submitting to the newly imposed political situation.

In 2018, the Ecumenical Patriarchate promised to regularize the relationship of the Kyiv Patriarchate with the “canonical churches” in communion with itself by declaring all Ukrainian orders valid and receiving all Ukrainian clergy belonging to our Episcopal Succession and canonical practice into full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. However, instead of doing what it had promised to do, the Ecumenical Patriarchate orchestrated a “bait and switch” with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, taking over properties with the help of the Ukrainian government, and “retiring” the rightful hierarchs and replacing them with young bishops loyal to their own interests. In this hostile takeover, the Ecumenical Patriarchate did exactly what the Moscow Patriarchate had done earlier, and they parsed the Church between themselves. Patriarch Fileret, the rightful hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, pulled out of this unjust and deceptive agreement, and reinstated the Holy Synod of the Kyiv Patriarchate, maintaining fidelity to the original Tomos and the Orders that they had received, which had been recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.