Legal absence of the Kyiv Patriarchate: expert on the illegality of electing a new head

Religious scholar and OCU lobbyist Oleksandr Sagan said that the religious organization called the UOC-KP has legally ceased to exist, and the recent election of its new leader is illegal and violates church canons. He said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

According to the expert, the legal entity «UOC-KP» was officially liquidated in 2019. The use of this name is now prohibited by the legislation of Ukraine, and all attempts by Patriarch Emeritus Filaret to appeal this decision in courts of various instances have failed. Sagan emphasized that today there are no legal grounds for the activities of the institution under this name, and all its property automatically and canonically passed to the OCU.

After the death of Filaret Denisenko, who died on March 20 at the age of 97, representatives of the structure announced the election of Nikodym Kobzar as the new head of the UOC-KP. However, Oleksandr Sagan called these actions a blatant violation of procedures. He noted that the «elections» were held in a hurry, without observing the traditional 40-day mourning period and in violation of the internal charter. Only seven people took part in the voting, some of whom were present online, which calls into question the legitimacy and secrecy of the process.

The religious scholar also added that this structure does not enjoy broad public support and is in fact a critically small group that unites no more than 20 communities in Ukraine. Sagan drew attention to general trends: while 71% of citizens used to call themselves Orthodox, this figure has now dropped to 58%, with an increase in the share of Greek Catholics.

As reported, an acute conflict broke out between the OCU and the UOC-KP over the right to conduct the funeral rites of the deceased Filaret Denisenko. Representatives of the UOC-KP accused their opponents of «raiding» the body and violating the last will of the late head of the Kyiv Patriarchate, according to which he was to be buried in St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral in Kyiv.