Head of the DESS: The Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Must Officially Sever Ties with the Russian Orthodox Church

The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) has initiated a process aimed at severing the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s (UOC) affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). As the agency’s head, Viktor Yelensky, stated in an interview with Hromadske, the key subject of the legal proceedings is the Kyiv Metropolis, which effectively manages the activities of the UOC, which is not an independent legal entity.

According to the DESS position, the UOC has still not provided official confirmation of its withdrawal from the ROC. Viktor Yelensky emphasized that the investigation confirmed both the factual and legal ties between them. In particular, the leadership of the UOC, including Metropolitan Onufriy, remains part of the governing bodies of the Russian Orthodox Church, and the organization’s charter still contains provisions regarding its subordination to the Moscow Patriarchate.

The official directive from the State Commission on Religious Affairs sets out four main requirements for the Kyiv Metropolis: to ensure that all subordinate structures (dioceses, monasteries, and educational institutions) withdraw from the Russian Orthodox Church; to remove representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the governing bodies of the Russian Orthodox Church; to annul the provisions of the charter linking the UOC to Moscow, and to condemn the annexation of eight dioceses in eastern Ukraine and Crimea.

The head of the DESS noted that this is allegedly not about the seizure of property or the restriction of freedom of religion. The main purpose of the law is to ensure national security by preventing an organization that supports the war against Ukraine from influencing the country’s religious life. The Kyiv Metropolis retains the right to comply with the order at any stage of the judicial process, which will allow it to avoid sanctions under the adopted law.

As a reminder, Archbishop Silvestr of Belgorod, rector of the Kyiv Theological Schools, previously presented a detailed analysis of the canonical status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) on the fourth anniversary of the Council in Theophania. The hierarch emphasized thatthe UOC functions as a fully independent entity, while maintaining Eucharistic communion with the majority of the world’s Local Churches.