All Orthodox parishes in Ukraine belong to the OCU by tomos, says Epiphanius

Recently, the transitions to the OCU have stopped, says the head of the OCU Epiphanius. But, he says, at the Phanar he was told that “all Orthodox parishes in Ukraine belong to the OCU.” Epiphanius stated this in an interview with Radio Svoboda.

“The situation has recently slowed down a bit with regard to transitions. But even now there are isolated cases in almost every region. This applies to both western Ukraine and central Ukraine. And I was informed the other day that there are now several transitions that are not advertised specifically in order to fully legalize the documents, and only then announce that these transitions have taken place.

But here it is necessary to understand more deeply the essence of this issue. We may even be talking incorrectly about transitions. Why? For, according to the tomos, in accordance with the explanations of His All-Holiness, Patriarch Bartholomew, all Orthodox parishes in Ukraine belong to the OCU. But there is such a definite canonical collapse that there are those in Ukraine who do not recognize this reality. But gradually, I think, they will join the recognition of the tomos. This is not a transition, because they are really in Ukraine. And, according to the decisions that were made by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, they all belong to the OCU. But temporarily they want to belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, although this is canonically wrong,” Epiphanius said.