The Holy Synod convened under the chairmanship of the Archbishop of Warsaw and Metropolitan of All Poland, His Beatitude Savva.
The announcement read: “The Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church is not opposed to the offer of autocephaly for the Church of Ukraine, as based on dogmatic and canonical rules (in effect) for the entire (Orthodox) Church. This cannot occur, however, for a group of raskolniks (using a local term for schismatics)”, while adding: “… Schismatics cannot represent a healthy ecclesiastical organization; they violate the Eucharistic unity of all Orthodoxy”.
In a related development, also on Wednesday, Russian Orthodox archpriest Nikolai Balasov warned that if reports prove true of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece recognizing the Ukrainian Church autocephaly, then “…canonical repercussions will follow”, echoing a similar statement by the Moscow Patriarchate’s Holy Synod.
