A
sample letter to Patriarch Bartholomew being circulated by
e-mail reads as follows:
“Your All-Holiness!
“I believe that it is time
to recognize the Kyivan Patriarchate, with more than 15 million
followers, as canonical
and equal to the other Patriarchates of Local Churches. The currently
recognized autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate),
notwithstanding its many fine clerics and faithful, is nothing more
than the
exarchate of a foreign Church and power on the sovereign territory of
Ukraine.
“With the collapse of the
Soviet Union in 1991, the announcement of an independent Ukraine marked
a new
beginning for Ukrainians worldwide. Ukrainians are now free to chart
their own
destiny as a sovereign European nation, without foreign influence. This
independence should have extended to ecclesiastic life as well, in the
form of
an autocephalous Local Church headed by its own Patriarch.
“After twenty-two years of
political independence, we are still caught in a stalemate in which
neither
Your All-Holiness nor the Patriarch of Moscow is prepared to recognize
the
Kyivan Patriarchate. There is a perception, based on published
correspondence
between your All-Holiness and the Patriarch of Moscow, that there is no
urgency
to resolve this problem and that a lack of resolution is indeed
convenient.
“Respectfully, we have
heard all the excuses why the Kyivan Patriarchate should not be
recognized.
Frankly, these excuses seem to be based upon political expediency and
financial
interest. We, as Ukrainians, would like this issue resolved in a timely
manner
for the benefit of all Ukrainian Orthodox, wherever they may be, and
humbly ask
Your All-Holiness for your intercession.
“Let our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ’s teachings guide your decisions. Support the freedom of
God-loving Orthodox people of Ukraine!”
The letter is addressed
to:
His
All-Holiness
Bartholomew, Archbishop of
Constantinople-New Rome and
Ecumenical Patriarch, Rum Patrikhanesi, 342 20 Fener-Haliç, Istanbul,
Turkey,
Email: [email protected].
Copies may be obtained
from
Larissa Bayrachny [[email protected]].
BRUOC is also conducting
an
online petition entitled “Recognition
of Kyivan Patrarchate in Ukraine
is long overdue!”.
You can view this petition
at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/980/637/849/remove-the-moscow-patriarchate-from-ukraine/