Cleric of Constantinople: Patriarch Kirill planned to become UOC primate
Patriarch Kirill with Viktor Yushchenko in Kyiv. Photo: Korrespondent
Kirill Govorun, who has been defrocked by the ROC and now serves as a cleric of the Church of Constantinople, spoke about what he says were Patriarch Kirill’s plans to head an autocephalist movement in Ukraine.
According to Govorun, who worked closely with the current head of the ROC even before his election as patriarch, Kirill had entirely different plans for his ecclesiastical career.
“Kirill personally told me that he wanted to learn the Ukrainian language. First of all, I was supposed to teach him,” Govorun said. “And now it is obvious to me – obvious – that if he had not become the Moscow patriarch, he planned to come to Kyiv, become Metropolitan of Kyiv, and become the head of an autocephalous, independent movement in Ukraine. To me it is clear that he had such plans.”
Earlier, the UOJ reported that the patriarch of the ROC banned Archimandrite Kirill (Govorun) from priesthood.
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