A hierarch of the OCU explained the reasons for the low “conversion” rates among UOC parishes

Fedir Bubnyuk, head of the Poltava Diocese of the OCU, acknowledged in a recent interview that there are serious difficulties in the process of transferring parishes of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to the jurisdiction of the OCU. The OCU representative attributed the low number of official transfers to the fact that some parishioners allegedly left UOC churches on their own, “voting with their feet.”

In an interview with the Kremenchug Gazette, Bubnyuksharply criticized believers who remain within the UOC. He claims that parishioners of the canonical church allegedly support the ideology of the “Russian World,” and he characterized the spiritual life of the UOC as “unchristian.” According to the OCU representative, only those who are ideologically committed and support the political course of a neighboring state have remained in the communities.

The publication devotes special attention to the issue of monasteries in Poltava, Lubny, and Kozelshchyna. Bubnyuk acknowledged that the process of establishing control over the monasteries is an extremely difficult task due to the conservatism of the monastic communities. He noted that monasteries are “closed institutions” and will most likely be the last to embrace such administrative changes.

As a reminder, Ukrainian MP Mykola Knyazhitsky previously stated that parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, despite sociological data, retain significant influence“thanks to a rigid hierarchical system of relations within the communities.” According to him, such a structure may contribute to the spread of external narratives and reduce parishioners’ resistance to informational influence.