Ukraine's newly installed Orthodox primate has pledged “openness to all" at his Kiev inauguration, while criticising the country's Moscow-linked Orthodox denomination in an interview and predicting Ukraine could regain territorial unity as his new church expands.
“We call for the unity of Orthodox hierarchs, clergy, monastics and laypeople - the doors of our local church and hearts are open to you", said Metropolitan Epiphanius Dumenko. "In due time, we believe our efforts will translate into the granting of patriarchal status to our church. Until then, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is open to co-operation and dialogue with other churches and religious organisations".
The 40-year-old metropolitan spoke after his Sunday enthronement ceremony, attended in Kiev's St Sophia cathedral by state and government leaders, as well as representatives of the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate and Ukraine's Catholic bishops.
However, in a weekend interview, he branded the Orthodox church still loyal to the Moscow Patriarchate as "Putin's last outpost", and warned Russia's influence had "penetrated deep into Ukrainian Orthodox souls". "There are many who don't understand what's going on - they're convinced it's all happened in a non-canonical way, that the Ecumenical Patriarch acted wrongly without any right", Metropolitan Epiphanius told Radio Liberty. "But we believe that, once we unite all Orthodox Ukrainians into a single church, the war in the Donbass will end and Crimea be returned to Ukraine - that Putin will lose the support he had here until now".
The Greek-educated Epiphanius was elected by bishops from the country's three divided Orthodox denominations at a council on 15 December and handed a "tomos of autocephaly" by Patriarch Bartholomew on 6 January, formally establishing the world's fifteenth main Orthodox church.
However, Patriarch Kirill of Russia, who cut all ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate in protest against the new Ukrainian church, assured a ceremony marking his tenth year in office the "spiritual, cultural and civilisational unity of Russians and Ukrainians" would outlast "temporary political schemes". Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin accused Ukrainian politicians of "exploiting religion in a struggle for power", and said Russia would "reserve the right" to do everything necessary "to protect human rights, including the right to religious freedom" in Ukraine.