Minsk Opposes Orthodox Church Split, Wary Of Negative Consequences - Belarusian President

Minsk Opposes Orthodox Church Split, Wary of Negative Consequences - Belarusian President

Minsk is opposed to any split in the Orthodox Church and "sensitive" to the situation with Ukraine's autocephaly bid, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said Monday at a meeting with Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill

MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th October, 2018) Minsk is opposed to any split in the Orthodox Church and "sensitive" to the situation with Ukraine's autocephaly bid, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said Monday at a meeting with Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill.

A meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church presided over by Kirill is being held in Minsk. The meeting's focus is on the decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to start the process of recognizing the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

"You should know our unchangeable state position. It is that split is always bad and entails negative consequences. And the consequences are the most dangerous thing ... [In Belarus] we are very sensitive to what is happening with the Orthodox Church at the moment ... Unfortunately, our church has often become a hostage of relations between the states; sometimes, of our inappropriate steps," Lukashenko said.

The Constantinople Synod confirmed last week that the Ecumenical Patriarchate had decided to proceed with granting autocephaly to Ukraine and reversed the 1686 decision which transferred the Kiev Metropolis to the Moscow Patriarchate.

The Russian Orthodox Church has said that the Ecumenical Patriarchate's decision was akin to the "legalization of schism" and could affect millions of people in Ukraine and other countries. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate said that the synod's decision was a hostile act, interfering with the Ukrainian church's affairs.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday the Kremlin was concerned about the Ecumenical Patriarchate's decision to grant autocephaly to Ukraine. Later in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the issue, among others, with the permanent members of the Russian Security Council.