What Constantinople's autocephaly plan meant for Ukraine and Russia
A retrospective on the Ecumenical Patriarchate's announced plan, and the reactions it drew in Kyiv and in the Russian Orthodox Church.
What did it mean when the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople moved towards recognising Ukrainian Orthodox autocephaly? By 12 October 2018, the question was already shaping debate, after reports dated 11 October 2018 said the Patriarchate planned to recognise the autocephaly of two Ukrainian Orthodox Churches.
The reactions were sharply divided. Ukrainian leaders welcomed the move. The Russian Orthodox Church denounced it as catastrophic. Those two responses, reported on 11 October 2018, set out the positions that would define the coming dispute.
The episode was also filed under two headings: Russia–Ukraine relations and what became known as the Schism of 2018. That framing shows how the matter was read beyond church circles. A decision about ecclesiastical status was treated as part of the wider relationship between the two countries.
The reports describe a plan, not a completed act. On 12 October 2018, the question of how the plan would be carried out, and how the Russian Orthodox Church would respond beyond its condemnation, remained open. What was clear was the divide: welcome in Kyiv, and denunciation from the Russian church.
