Today, February 3rd, on the day of his 40th anniversary, Metropolitan Epiphanius became the full leader of the autocephalous local Orthodox church in Ukraine. The enthronement ceremony took place in the St. Sophia Cathedral during the morning divine service.
The Priest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Epiphanius was chosen during the unification council in Kyiv on December 15, 2018. And already on January 6, 2019, Epiphanius together with Bartholomew held divine service in the church of St. George on Fanar, after which the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew handed Epiphanius the stick and the Tomos, which proclaims the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Today, Metropolitan Epiphanius was dressed in the primate’s clothing and enthroned. It was a solemn and beautiful ceremony, which became the final point of all procedures that claimed the autocephaly of the UOC.
Before the beginning of the divine service, Metropolitan Epiphanius visited the grave of the patriarch Volodymyr, located in front of the St. Sophia Gate (in July 1995, the Kyiv Patriarchate did not receive permission to bury the patriarch on the territory of St. Sophia). Then began the solemn divine liturgy in the walls of the cathedral of St. Sophia.
The enthronement ceremony was held by the representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Metropolitan of Gallia, Emmanuel, the former head of the UAOC, Metropolitan Macarius, and the Metropolitan of Vinnytsya, Simeon (formerly a representative of the UOC-MP). Each of them, one by one, put Metropolitan Epiphanius on a specially made for him throne, pronouncing “Axios” (from the Greek ‒ worthy).
After that, Epiphanius was presented with the attributes of a primate’s rank: the cross was presented by Metropolitan of Cherkasy and Chygyryn John, with the decorated image of the Holy Virgin ‒ Panagia ‒ presented by Metropolitan Yuriy (Kalischuk), who heads the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Canada, the second Panagia was presented by the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA, the Metropolitan Serhii).
The right to wear a second Panagia is the privilege of primates of the local churches. After Metropolitan Epiphanius dressed in these attributes of the church, the enthronement ceremony was over. The local Orthodox Church of Ukraine received its legal primate.
Representatives of the clergy, the Patriarchate of Constantinople, local churches and believers took part in the enthronement. The ceremony was also attended by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko with his wife, Yuliya Tymoshenko, Andriy Sadovyi and other representatives of Ukrainian politics.
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko spoke on the enthronement with an appeal to Ukrainians and with words of welcome and support of Metropolitan Epiphanius.
“More than a hundred metropolitans were on the throne of Kyiv. But you are the first in our history, the head of the autocephalous Orthodox Ukrainian church,” the President said to Epiphanius.
“With you, Your Bliss, the high hopes of many people are now connected. And let me assume, I believe that they will come true, that you, Your Bliss, will lead the Orthodox community along the path of goodness, the path of love, the path of faith and mercy. Together with everyone I pray that the Lord will always be with you in that high mission that you have taken upon yourself,” Petro Poroshenko said.
The President also recalled the great Ukrainians on the Kyiv throne: “On this solemn and festive day, we pay due respect to all the great Ukrainian on the Kyiv throne, from Hilarion and Petro Mohyla to Vasyl Lypkovskyi, to Mstyslav Skrypnyk, to Volodymyr Romanyuk. Their prayer, their tireless work brought this festive day closer. Also today it is necessary to say words of respect and gratitude to His Holiness Filaret, who did so much for the emergence of the autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church. We celebrated his 90th birthday quite recently and today we once again wish him health and strength.”
After the enthronement, the first meeting of the Synod of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is to take place, at which legal issues will be considered, in particular, the coordination and approval of the governing bodies. This was announced by the head of the Local Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epiphanius in an interview with the Radio Liberty.
“After the unification council was held on December 15th, we had a preparatory period for receiving the Tomos, everyone was waiting for the completion of the canonical procedure. And then gradually we will form the relevant authorities. Now, all this time, we are engaged in the legal issues. In order to have the status of a legal entity, you need to create a governing body. The church is not a legal entity at all, but there is a governing body ‒ it is the Kyiv Metropolis, which was finally registered by the state,” Epiphanius said to the Radio Liberty.
Text and photo by Ivan Pechenyi
