Head of the DESS: “We are not demanding that the UOC become part of the OCU”

The Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), Viktor Yelensky, who is actively involved in state pressure on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, claims that state authorities allegedly do not require the UOC to join the OCU. According to the official, the canonical Church need only state that the Statute of the Russian Orthodox Church is not relevant to them. He made this statement in a comment to the publication “Grunt.”

“We are not demanding that the UOC become part of the OCU, that it switch to the New Style calendar, or that it switch from Church Slavonic to Ukrainian. The UOC responds that it cannot influence the Statute of the Russian Orthodox Church. We aren’t asking for that; just say that it is not relevant to you,” the official noted.

At the same time, Yelensky asserts that the UOC, while defending its interests in court, is utilizing “substantial funding” with the aim of “remaining part of the ROC.”

“We are dealing with an organized, well-funded struggle by the UOC for the right to remain part of the ROC. We cannot use the tools typical of Russia, where a church is bulldozed and everything is fine. At the court level, there should be no doubt about the integrity of the decisions,” he added.

As a reminder, the former head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, Olena Bohdan, statedthat the agency’s official website contains documents confirming the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s withdrawal from the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.