Patriarch Kirill of All Russia (Patriarch of Moscow) expressed hope that the Georgian Orthodox Church, under its newly elected primate, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, will not change its position on the Ukrainian issue — the status of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine and its canonical recognition.
“The Bulgarian and Albanian churches, where new primates were recently elected, are not changing their views on the Ukrainian issue. We hope that the same will be true for the Georgian Orthodox Church, which is soon to elect its new head after His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II passed away in March of this year,” stated the Patriarch of All Russia.
As a reminder, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) was established in 2018–2019 and received a tomos of autocephaly from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), headed by Patriarch Kirill, has not recognized this autocephaly and considers the OCU to be a non-canonical structure.
This has resulted in a serious schism between the ROC and the Patriarchate of Constantinople, as well as tension within global Orthodoxy.
When Kirill (and hierarchs close to the ROC) speak of the “Ukrainian issue,” they usually refer to:
- the non-recognition of the OCU;
- the dispute over ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Ukraine,
- and more broadly — the conflict between the ROC and Constantinople for influence in the Orthodox world.
