UKRAINE: VISIT OF PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW SPURS

C O N F I D E N T I A L KYIV 001510

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: VISIT OF PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW SPURS
HOPES FOR UNIFIED ORTHODOX CHURCH

Classified By: Acting PolCouns Robert Scott for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
.


1. (SBU) Summary: The Ecumenical Patriarch of
Constantinople, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodoxy,
arrived in Ukraine on July 24 for a five day visit to
celebrate the 1,020th anniversary of the christianization of
the Kyivan Rus. Although he has no jurisdiction over other
Orthodox patriarchs, Patriarch Bartholomew I of
Constantinople is viewed as the spiritual leader and primary
spokesman for Eastern Orthodoxy and many anticipated his
visit might help begin resolve the long-running split within
Ukraine's Orthodox community and lend support for President
Yushchenko's push to establish a unified Orthodox church free
from Russian influence. Russian Patriarch Alexiy II also
attended the celebrations.


2. (SBU) Comment: It appears that Yushchenko's gambit to
invite Bartholomew to the celebrations, despite the apparent
displeasure of the Russian Orthodox Church, paid off with
several statements from the Constantinople Patriarch
expressing general support for an independent and unified
Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Resolving the split within
Ukraine's Orthodox community and limiting the influence of
Russia, as maintained through Ukraine's largest Orthodox
community, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow
Patriarchate, has been an ongoing Yushchenko goal. This
visit appears to have given impetus to Yushchenko's hopes for
greater independence from Russian influence in religious
affairs. End of Summary and Comment.

President Pushes for Independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church
-------------- --------------


3. (U) Bartholomew's visit received high level attention,
with President Yushchenko, senior GoU officials, the leaders
of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate
(UOC-MP),Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC),and
the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) greeting
Bartholomew I on his arrival at Boryspil Airport on 24 July.
Many hoped that the Ecumenical Patriarch would take an
official position on the split between Ukraine's UOC-MP, a
branch of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC),and the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP),
which is not officially recognized by Constantinople and is
considered to be schismatic by the ROC. President
Yushchenko, who has long sought to unify Ukraine's divided
Orthodox churches under Ukrainian leadership, is viewed as a
strong supporter of the UOC-KP and its controversial leader
Patriarch Filaret. PM Tymoshenko was conspicuously absent
from the event, claiming she was too busy dealing with the
recent floods in western Ukraine.


4. (U) Bartholomew's visit was marked by highly publicized
ceremonial events at religiously significant sites in Kyiv
including Sofiyska Square, the Hill of Saint Volodymyr of
Kyiv, and the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Orthodox leaders from
several countries were present at the events including the
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Aleksiy II, who is seen by
some as a rival of Patriarch Bartholomew. Orthodox leaders
from France, Austria, Jerusalem, Albania, Greece, Poland,
Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania also attended the ceremonies,
which some observers interpreted as a sign of their support
for an independent Ukrainian church.

Ecumenical Patriarch Successfully Walks Tightrope
-------------- --------------


5. (U) Observers anxiously waited to see if Bartholomew
would take an official position on the status of the feuding
Ukrainian Orthodox churches. President Yushchenko was
clearly hoping that the visit would help to establish an
independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church separate from the ROC,
and said that Patriarch Bartholomew,s visit to Ukraine
provided &important momentum for unification of Ukrainian
Churches and the faithful.8 At the end of the visit, the
President expressed his satisfaction that the Ecumenical
Patriarch supported the will of Ukrainians to have a national
Church of their own.


6. (U) For his part, Bartholomew found himself walking a
fine line between his host's well known desire for him to
recognize an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the
opposition of such a move from Eastern Orthodoxy's most
powerful national Patriarch, Russian Patriarch Aleksiy II,
who clearly wants Moscow to maintain its jurisdiction over
the UOC-MP, Ukraine's largest Orthodox community. Media
observers noted that Yushchenko warmly greeted Bartholomew in
public, but was noticeably more reserved with Aleksiy. The
media also commented on the competing posters plastered
throughout Kyiv of Yushchenko together with Bartholomew and a

separate poster of Aleksiy with the words "Ukraine welcomes
its own Patriarch". Media reported that the posters of
Aleksiy were paid for by Kyiv Party of Regions politician
Vasyl Horbal.


7. (U) Throughout his visit, Bartholomew made general
statements in support of an independent Ukrainian Orthodox
Church, but stopped short of recognizing an independent
Ukrainian Church under jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of
Constantinople. On July 26, he said that the "mother church
has the right to support within existing Orthodox tradition
any constructive and promising proposal, which would
eliminate dangerous splits in the church body as soon as
possible...Various political and church difficulties caused
by existing mishmash are obvious and known from the long
historic past. Taking care to protect and restore church
unity is our common duty, which is above any political or
church goals." On July 27, Bartholomew and Aleksiy made a
joint statement, emphasizing their agreement to address all
issues through dialogue, and to bring all unresolved
questions to the attention of delegations of both churches.


8. (U) For his part, Russian Patriarch Aleksiy II called for
spiritual unity between Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian
peoples. Many observers noted that he canceled his planned
visit to Donetsk scheduled for July 29. According to the
press-secretary of the Metropolitan of Donetsk and Mariupol,
&the Patriarch was very upset. He planned (the trip) and
seriously intended to visit Donetsk Oblast. However, the trip
was obstructed by his age and depression over some episodes
that happened in Kyiv.8

Russian MFA Concerned by Poor Treatment of Aleksiy
-------------- --------------


9. (U) The media reported that Russia's MFA complained on
July 25 about the "disrespectful" treatment of the Russian
Orthodox Church leader and the trampling of sensitivities of
millions of believers in Russia and Ukraine. In a
counterstatement, Ukraine's MFA replied that it was concerned
about Russian &politicized and unfair8 assessments
regarding internal events that were put forward &without
diplomatic delicacy.8 The GoU expressed concern about the
"unfounded accusation by the Russian side of disrespectful
treatment of the Russian Orthodox Church clergy during their
participation in marking the 1,020th anniversary of baptizing
Kyivan Rus." According to the MFA spokesman, all these
activities &were in line with national legislation and
should not have negative implications for high level
Ukrainian-Russian cooperation.8

Yushchenko Took Risk in inviting Ecumenical Patriarch
-------------- --------------


10. (C) Deputy Head of the Presidential Secretary Oleksandr
Chaliy told DAS Merkel and the Ambassador during a July 25
meeting that the presence of Aleksiy II represented a "deep
diplomatic moment" in Ukraine-Russian relations. According
to Chaliy, Russian President Medvedev warned Yushchenko a
month ago that the Russian Patriarch would not attend the
ceremonies in Kyiv if the Ecumenical Patriarch would be in
attendance. The participation of Bartholomew would be seen
as part of Yushchenko's attempt to legitimize the as yet
unrecognized independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Chaliy
argued that Aleksiy's attendance could therefore be
characterized as a diplomatic victory for Yushchenko, who
took a risk by hosting the Ecumenical Patriarch.


11. (U) In an interview following the visit, the head of
the State Committee of Nationalities and Religions (SCNR),
Oleksandr Sagan, told reporters that despite the ROC's
attempts to discourage Orthodox leaders from attending the
celebration, the level of representation was quite high.
Sagan, who is a strong supporter of Yushchenko's efforts to
unite Ukraine's Orthodox community, said that Moscow would
resist a move to unify the divided churches under the
Patriarchate of Constantinople because it would cause the ROC
to lose 11,000 UOC-MP parishes, as well as symbolically
important ties to its historical origins. Sagan added that
the unification may happen sooner than expected if "church
politicians" do not interfere with the process.

Win for Constantinople, Loss for Moscow
--------------


12. (C) Oleksandr Zayets of the Institute for Religious
Freedom told PolOff on July 31 that President Yushchenko made
a point of warmly welcoming Bartholomew while "humiliating"
Aleksiy, probably in retaliation for Russian attempts to
interfere in Ukrainian affairs he opined. He said that
Yushchenko's decision to invite Bartholomew to the

celebration, which was made only a month before the event,
came as a shock and disappointment to Aleksiy. Zayets said
that the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople appeared
to be gaining the upper hand in its long struggle with the
Russian Patriarchate for influence over the Orthodox faithful
throughout the Orthodox world. Ukraine figured large in the
calculations of both patriarchs and Zayets expected
significant changes to come out of an upcoming conference of
Orthodox leaders in Istanbul later this year. Zayets
outlined two possible scenarios coming out of the conference;
the UOC-KP and Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church joined
together as a Metropolia under the jurisdiction of the
Constantinople Patriarchate or an independent Ukrainian
Orthodox Church led by a patriarch and recognized by
Constantinople. In either of these scenarios, he felt that
the UOC-KP's Patriarch Filaret would vie for church
leadership. (Comment: Relations between the UOC-KP and UAOC
have been tense since their unification talks failed two
years ago. Their respective leaders, Filaret and Mefodiy,
were unable to agree on who should lead an independent
Ukrainian Orthodox Church. End Comment.) Zayets saw the
absence of both Filaret and Mefodiy during the visit as a
possible sign that they have overcome their past differences.
He felt that many of the UOC-MP faithful currently belonging
to its 11,000 parishes would switch allegiance to an
independent Ukrainian church.


13. (C) Zayets commented that Aleksiy's heavy-handed efforts
to exert influence through the UOC-MP in the lead-up to the
celebration backfired because of his disrespectful attitude
towards Ukrainian sensitivities. He believed that the
Russian Orthodox Church and GoR may consider a reorganization
of church/state relations and a shake-up of those responsible
for foreign relations within the ROC because of Yushchenko's
perceived success in thwarting ROC ambitions during the
celebration. He said that Aleksiy's decision to not visit
Donetsk on July 29 was likely due to expected poor turn-out
of the faithful because of their sense of alienation towards
Aleksiy as well as traditional apathy of churchgoers in the
oblast. Zayets noted that Prime Minister Tymoshenko was
conspicuously absent during the visit and did not believe her
explanation that she was too busy with the floods in western
Ukraine. He said her absence was more likely due to her
ongoing differences with Yushchenko and noted that even
opposition leader and former PM Yanukovych met separately
with Bartholomew during his visit.


14. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev.
PETTIT