OCU recognizes deep staffing crisis and lack of clergy

Representatives of the OCU report a growing shortage of personnel and the reluctance of graduates of theological schools to take the priesthood. The structure is facing a shortage of clerics capable of replacing the retiring older generation. This is reported by the Telegram channel «First Cossack » with reference to the publication of activist Denis Targonsky.

According to the analysis of the situation, despite the state accreditation of the OCU educational institutions, the number of people wishing to enter them is steadily declining. Targonsky notes that graduates often refuse to be ordained because «profitable churches» are already occupied and often inherited, and young people do not want to serve in «unpromising» parishes.

The problem is compounded by the fact that many rural and low-income communities are left without permanent priests. According to the activist, in some cases, one cleric of the OCU is responsible for 5-6 churches at a time. He emphasized that the issue of survival for young professionals is more acute than the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of the mission.

The journalists of the publication also draw a parallel with the situation in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). It is noted that, despite administrative pressure and persecution, the number of clergy in the UOC continues to demonstrate stability, because the priestly ministry is perceived there as a spiritual calling and feat, while the OCU recognizes a systemic decline in interest in pastoral activities among young people.

Earlier, we reported that representatives of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, together with the OCU, complain about the personnel crisis in the Ukrainian schism. The institutions complain that after the seizures of churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the regions, the priests of the UOC refuse to transfer to the OCU, taking the most active parishioners with them. In the current circumstances, a situation is created when one OCU cleric is forced to serve 4-5 parishes, and there are very few new clerics in the OCU due to the fact that the «service» in the organization remains low-profitable.