Garcevic in Balkan Insight on Ukrainian Church’s Independence
Ambassador Vesko Garcevic, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published a recent commentary on the battle over the Ukrainian Church’s independence from Moscow.
Garcevic’s commentary, entitled “Fight Over Ukraine’s Church Risks Dividing Orthodoxy,” was published in Balkan Insight on November 7, 2018. \
From the text of the article:
Ukraine’s President, Petro Poroshenko, and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, signed an accord last Saturday that should open the door to recognition of the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
This will deepen the anger felt in Moscow (for centuries, the Moscow Patriarch has had jurisdiction over the Church in Ukraine) and, no doubt, prompt a new wave of accusations against Patriarch Bartholomew.
The independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (there are currently three rival Orthodox Churches there) has become a hot top in the Orthodox world.
Many Orthodox Churches, including the Serbian Church, have supported the Russian Church’s decision to break ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate following its announcement that it intends to recognize the Ukrainian Church.
During his diplomatic career, Amb. Vesko Garcevic dealt with issues pertinent to European security and NATO for almost 14 years. In 2004, he was posted in Vienna to serve as Ambassador to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He had been a Montenegro’s Ambassador to NATO from 2010 until 2014 and served as a Montenegro’s National Coordinator for NATO from 2015 until he joined the faculty at the Pardee School.