ATHENS, October 24 - RIA Novosti. The Metropolitan of Limassol left the Divine Liturgy before its end in protest against the decision of the Primate of the Cypriot Orthodox Church, Archbishop Chrysostomos, to recognize the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
According to the local TV channel RIK, in fact it is about recognizing the OCU without the consent of the Synod.
It is noted that during the ordination of a new bishop in the monastery of the Mother of God Chrysorrogiatissa, Archbishop Chrysostomus first mentioned Epiphany as the primate of the Ukrainian church.
Chrysostomos of Cyprus stated that his decision serves Orthodoxy and the Cypriot Church.
He admitted that he "went against certain people," and confirmed that the members of the Synod did not know about the decision. At the same time, Chrysostom said that he had to take a definite position on this issue in the interests of Orthodoxy.
In 2018, on the initiative of the then President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and the Patriarchate of Constantinople, a schismatic structure was created - the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), formed by the merger of two other schismatic "churches." Having received a tomos on "autocephaly" from Patriarch Bartholomew, in reality the OCU turned out to be almost completely dependent on Constantinople. The Russian Orthodox Church in October 2018 ended Eucharistic communion with the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In 2019, the OCU was recognized by the first hierarchs of the Alexandrian and Greek Orthodox Churches. The ROC responded by announcing the severance of Eucharistic communion with those hierarchs of the Hellas and Alexandria Churches who recognize the OCU and will concelebrate with the schismatics.
