The request of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to accept the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was accepted at today's extraordinary meeting of the Hierarchy of the Orthodox Church of Greece.
The hierarchy, which consists of 80 bishops, recognized the new autocephalous church. Seven metropolitans requested the postponement of that decision.
The head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Jeronimos, will from now on also mention the head of the Ukrainian Church in his prayers.
According to information from today's session, the bishops voted by acclamation in favor of Jeronimos' proposal to recognize the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The Athens newspaper "Katimerini" writes on its website that Jeronimos was a reporter on that topic at today's meeting, which very rarely happens, and this indicates that it is "a decision of special political value, a clear message of support for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, sent in all directions." .
The Archbishop's recommendation for the recognition of the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church was based on the recommendations of two competent committees of the Hierarchy that proposed to recognize the autocephaly, as at the time of the re-establishment of the Churches in Albania and the Czech Republic.
Jeronimos noted that the Ukrainian Church has always been under the canonical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which renounced its jurisdiction in order for the Ukrainian Church to join the society of autocephalous Orthodox churches, although this act was disputed by the Moscow Patriarchate.
Thus, the Hierarchy accepts the decision of the previous Permanent Holy Synod of August 28 and the recommendation of Jeronimos, and, as it says in the announcement, recognizes "the canonical right of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to cede autocephaly, as well as the privilege of the head of the Greek Church to further deal with the issue of recognizing the Ukrainian Church."
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