December 24, 2020

Prime hierarchs greet Metropolitan Epifaniy on second anniversary of Unification Council

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Below are the statements of greeting from the prime hierarchs of the Orthodox Churches of Greece, Alexandria, Cyprus and Constantinople on the occasion of the second anniversary of the Unification Council that was held on December 15, 2018, which was instrumental in the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), and its election of Metropolitan Epifaniy as its prime hierarch. The 2018 Unification Council and its decisions led to the Tomos of Autocephaly being granted to the OCU by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on January 6, 2019, which recognized the OCU as independent. (Source: pomisna.info, translated by Matthew Dubas)

 

Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and all Greece

Your Beatitude Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine, in Christ God as a highly loved and worthy brother and co-serving in our humility, Hierarch Epifaniy, we in the Lord embrace and sincerely and joyously greet Your Beatitude.

In the Synodal Letter, which you hold in your hands, the Holy Synod of the Holy Church of Greece and in our humility we express to you, in brotherhood, we raise our wishes and sincere congratulations on the occasion, with God’s assistance, on the second anniversary of the Declaration of Autocephaly and your selection to head the Holy Church [of Ukraine], following the urgent actions of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and having been chosen by the Holy Synod [of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine].

We sincerely wish that under the prudent priesthood of Your Beatitude, the Holy Church of Kyiv and All Ukraine has radiated near and far (Ephesians 2:17) with an inextinguishable light of peace and love from the eternal God the Word and our Savior Jesus Christ, Who for our sake became incarnate in the flesh, adhering to Apostolic succession and true Orthodox teachings.

Additionally, we pray that He, Who became an infant, Who is eternal, that He safeguard Your Beatitude, members of the Holy Synod who elected you, pious clergy and God-loving faithful of the Holy Church of Ukraine and that He grant them strong health, under the Strong and Holy Protection of the All-Holy Theotokos and all the saints. May all your years be joyous.

With this, I greet Your Beatitude with a loving and holy kiss.

With great love in the Lord,

A loving brother in Christ,

+ Ieronymos II,
Archbishop of Athens and all Greece

Athens, Greece, December 14, 2020

 

Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus

On the occasion of the second anniversary of the granting of the Tomos of Autocephaly by Ecumenical Patriarch to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, I greet its primate, Your Beatitude Metropolitan of Kyiv Epifaniy, and pray that the Lord aids you to be worthy in your mission and service in the exhaustive shepherding of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which has truly suffered much in the many past decades. And I hope that in the person of Your Beatitude Epifaniy it has found a capable head, who can lead it to the quiet havens, so that under Your Beatitude’s care it is able with certainty to continue on its path to salvation, and that in every day in this country can be an example of Orthodoxy, because it is the will of God.

Only from this example can we achieve unity in Orthodoxy, Orthodoxy which serves Christian peoples, with Christ as the center, and we shall be members of this lovely Church, all Orthodox, of which we find ourselves in all corners of the world.

We wish Your Beatitude Many Years!

May God grant you and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine all the best, and you specifically, but also all Orthodoxy.

+Chrysostomos II,
Archbishop of Cyprus

Nicosia, Cyprus, December 15, 2020

 

Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and all Africa Theodore

I wish to express on behalf of the second department, of the great Patriarchate, from the blessed Cairo, here, in God-treaded Egypt, to sincerely congratulate His Beatitude Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine Epifaniy on the occasion of two years from the date of his selection to the blessed throne of Ukraine.

Our All-Holy Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople wholeheartedly, as selected by the Holy Synod, granted autocephaly to our sister Church, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

My sincere congratulations, and many wishes from the second throne, the Ancient Patriarchate, missionary and blessed, to our sister Ukrainian Church.

My own heart especially rejoices in this, for as long as I had lived in Ukraine, I had enjoyed the blessed workings of the Lord, specifically I had recognized the generosity of the souls and great faith of the extremely Godly people of Ukraine.

Your Beatitude Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine Epifaniy, you are the youngest among the Orthodox Primates. However, I am familiar with your goodness and godliness. You speak contemporary Greek, and this I underscore, the original language of the writings of the Holy Fathers of the Church and Gospel is Greek.

I wish to congratulate you on behalf of the Church of Saint Mark, and on behalf of the missionary Church of the Holy Patriarchs, and therefore our Churches unite a great history.

I wish you, that your pastoral service to the Godly people of Ukraine is always blessed, so that God may grant you all the best.

Gift the love of your beautiful Ukrainian people and attain God’s blessings every day.

To your hierarchs and your flock I send my wishes and all my love, so that again and again it may continue for many, many years and you may celebrate with your blessed flock.

Many Years!

May the blessings of St. Mark always be with all of you!

+Theodore II,
Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria
and all Africa

Alexandria, Egypt, December 15, 2020

 

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople

Your Beatitude Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine, Christ our God’s beloved and desirable brother and our co-server in humility, Epifaniy, your attentive Beatitude in brotherhood in the Lord, I strongly embrace and congratulate you!

In commitment and mercy, on December 15, 2020, we celebrate the two-year anniversary of the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine during the Unification Council in Kyiv, with participation of clergy and laity, which was convened in our humility for the selection of a prime hierarch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and the approval of its Constitution. From then and following the presentation of the Tomos of Autocephaly at the Phanar on January 6, 2019, and your selection as head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is a testimony about the Orthodox faith, which the unified Orthodox Church of Ukraine on the territory of the Ukrainian state, with your love of God and love of humanity, prudence and active leadership.

I greet you, my blessed brother, which was done in a short period of time for such a weighty Church matter, with excellent management of Church affairs, in collaboration with the government for all the good Ukrainian people, as well as with the initiative and action during the dangerous time of the pandemic, while addressing opposition to its social consequences and consolation of believers. You are steadfast in your ministry to the people of God, remaining steadfastly faithful in dogmatic and canonical traditions of the Church and sensitive and caring to the existential needs of your spiritual children, always orientating toward the eternal signposts of Christ. We praise the Head and Creator of our faith, our eternal Savior of the world, Who has bestowed the Church to Your Beatitude, his devotee in soul and body, to His priestly mission, a person of the Church, who likewise fights for the unity and strength of Orthodoxy.

Your personality and your worthy contribution in the functionality of the Church life of Ukraine, as well as your sincere interest in the unity of Orthodoxy, marked by the measured contribution of the recognition of autocephaly and your selection as head of the Church and the inclusion of your name in the Church’s diptychs by His Beatitude Archbishop of Athens and all Greece Ierynomos, the Patriarch of Alexandria Theodore and Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos. We are confident that other Orthodox Primates will follow suit, which will definitely contribute to the unity of Orthodoxy. Ukrainian autocephaly is a canonical fact, which cannot be changed. Countering this truth are foreign interests, which do not “lead to good,” but leads to the inevitable filling of the barrel of the Danaids [of Greek mythology].

In the blessed life of the Church does not bloom no practical “intricacies,” nor turning of theology to the sophistic and the blinding “art of speech.”

Your Beatitude’s presence at the Phanar remains unforgettable in our memory and your expressions of reverence for the Mother Church of Constantinople, and to our modest individuals, when we presented to you the Tomos of Autocephaly, on the name day of the angel of Epifaniy with our humility in June of last year.

We feel especially joyous in uniting through the laying on of hands in the consecration of our exarch in Kyiv, Bishop Mikhail (Onyshchenko), with an official delegation from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in attendance. We love the Bishop of Comana, who is very respectful to members of the Patriarchal Court, both hierarchs from our side and, assuredly, from your side as well.

We are anticipating with joy meeting with Your Beatitude in 2021 in Kyiv during our visit to Ukraine on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of its independence at the invitation of His Excellency President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. We had an opportunity to welcome the esteemed president at the Phanar and discuss current questions in an atmosphere of beautiful cooperation. We were further encouraged by the recent visit here by Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during the patronal feast of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, after which we were able with sincerity and in a fruitful atmosphere to exchange thoughts.

Blessed Master,

We remain unshaken in our faith in God’s Providence and His life-giving mercy, which heals the weak and replenishes the exhausted. We lift our prayers to the glorious Lord for strengthening the service of the Mother Church, and we ask you to pass along to the Ukrainian people of God our humble wishes and all those at the Phanar, who day and night preserve the tradition passed down from the Fathers. Therefore, we pray that the Son and Word of God, Who became incarnate in the flesh for us, grant you good health and blessings in furthering your work as primate, for the good of the Church of Ukraine and all Orthodoxy, and a strengthening holy kiss we give to you, with respect and send deep love in the Lord.

Your blessed and dearly beloved brother in Christ,

 

+Bartholomew,
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople

Constantinople, December 14, 2020

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