WARSAW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th February, 2020) The Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church will take part in the pan-Orthodox gathering in Jordan slated for February 26, an assistant to the archbishop of Warsaw and Metropolitan of All Poland, told Sputnik.
In November 2019, Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III proposed a meeting of the heads of Orthodox churches in the wake of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople's decision to recognize the non-canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).
"Yes, of course, we will go ... Our representatives will go on February 24 and return on February 28, while the meeting itself will take place on February 26," Father George said.
According to the clergyman, Archbishop of Warsaw and Metropolitan of All Poland Sawa Hrycuniak will not attend the gathering for health reasons, since "doctors do not allow him to fly by plane."
The UOC was formed in late 2018 on then-President Petro Poroshenko's initiative. The new structure brought together the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, two previously non-canonical structures.
In early 2019, Patriarch Bartholomew handed over the tomos of autocephaly, a document that grants Orthodox churches autonomy, to the newly established Ukrainian church. The Russian Orthodox Church, along with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, refused to recognize the move. The Moscow Patriarchate has described the situation as the "legalization of schism," stressing that it would have catastrophic consequences and affect millions of Christians in Ukraine and other countries.
