Supreme Court Opens Case on Bishop Gideon’s Suit Against Ukraine’s Supreme Council Over Autocephaly

The Supreme Court has opened proceedings on a lawsuit filed by Bishop Gideon (Haron). As described in the source, the suit asks the court to direct the Supreme Council of Ukraine to act on the granting of autocephaly, or tomos, to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine by the Ecumenical Patriarch. The source’s account of the suit’s exact wording is unclear, so the precise relief sought should be confirmed against the court filing.

The source states that the Supreme Council has appealed to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople regarding the tomos. It adds that only members of the Council can make such an appeal, and that it must follow a specific procedure. The source also argues that, under Ukrainian law, each local religious community is a separate legal entity, and that a wider church body is not a single legal structure in the same sense. These are the source’s claims about the legal framework, and they are presented here as its own explanation rather than as an established legal finding.

The source describes Gideon as a bishop of an organization it says opposes the tomos. It characterizes his lawsuit as an attempt to interfere with the connection between certain religious organizations in Ukraine and a foreign religious center. These characterizations are not supported by quoted statements or documents in the material provided, and they come from the author’s own assessment.

The source also reports a series of unverified claims about Gideon’s background. It says he describes himself as ethnically Greek, that he claims American citizenship, and that he has said he served as a chaplain in the United States, although the source says it could not confirm this. It further reports that a deputy, Igor Lutsenko, requested that authorities seek action against Gideon in 2007 over citizenship rules, and that a court in Zhytomyr fined him in that year. The source states that a passport issued to Gideon in 2011 was questioned, and that an unnamed source claims he obtained citizenship that was later annulled after he gave a weak statement while submitting documents. None of these claims has been confirmed in the material provided, and they should be treated as allegations.

According to the source, Gideon and a nephew, John Haron, established an organization in 2002, identified in the source by an abbreviation. The source also reports that Gideon sought permission to set up a temporary tent for Passover 2006 to mark the foundation of the Tenth Church, and that while the Passover gathering took place, the tent was not cleaned up.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Ukrainian)