RUSSIAN ORTHODOX PATRIARCH CRUSADES IN UKRAINE.

The Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, Aleksy II, arrived yesterday in Ukraine’s city of Odessa and attacked the Kyiv Patriarchy as "schismatic." "There can be no reconciliation except in the bosom of the one legitimate Orthodox Church," Aleksy said in a follow-up statement. He also urged "schismatic groups" — implying parishes loyal to the Kyiv Patriarchy — to revert to subordination to the Moscow Patriarchy. Denying the "lie" that the Russian Orthodox Church claims Kyiv Patriarchy’s property, Aleksy stated that the property rightfully belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Metropolitanate, which is affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Aleksy expects to meet today and tomorrow in Odessa with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the Patriarch of Georgia, the Ukrainian Metropolitan loyal to Moscow, and the Metropolitan of Moldova. (Russian agencies, September 22) Earlier this month, Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchy had expressed disbelief at the "rumor" that Aleksy was going to visit Ukraine without coordinating such a visit with Kyiv.

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