Is the unification of the UOC and the OCU realistic in the near future?

In Media published the revelation of a certain cleric of the Bulgarian Church, Archimandrite Dionysius, in which he «poured» «insights» about the alleged future unification of the UOC and the OCU. These statements can be summarized as follows:

— negotiations on unification are underway between the UOC and the OCU;
— letters have been sent to Phanar in this regard;
— Phanar will act as a mediator in this process;
— someone from America will head the newly created structure (the OCA or the UOC in the United States, it is not fully clear).

It is not that this information cannot be true at all, but there are nuances that, for some reason, always remain unaccounted for during conversations on this topic.

First, it is completely unclear why information about such a large-scale «agreement» is coming from Bulgaria, although no one has heard about it before. Given the specifics of the Ukrainian church issue, one must understand that this is not a «needle in a haystack» at all, but rather a huge needle in a small bag. That is, we argue that it is impossible to hide such extensive information in full. If this were happening, it would have been known in Ukraine for sure.

Secondly, it is extremely difficult to believe that any negotiations between the UOC and the OCU are possible at all, even at the grassroots level. First of all, the OCU itself is not interested in such an association. It is unlikely that the functionaries, who are called bishops in the OCU, will withstand the emergence of new competitors on their side. There are already constant scandals between the former UOC-KP and UAOC, and if two or three more bishops appear in one region, it will turn into a disaster for them.
And then, at the moment, the OCU is completely discredited as an organization with which to talk about anything. As a reminder, the OCU, at the level of the council, called for the state to ban the UOC! And this is without taking into account the continuous raider attacks on UOC churches, the spread of fakes and manipulations about the UOC, etc. By the way, Dumenko himself recently spoke about the complete absence of a dialog with the UOC.

Third, Bartholomew is not interested in such a development. In his opinion, he has already won in Ukraine. As he himself stated earlier, the decision to create the OCU is final and not subject to revision. This is understandable, because if the head of Phanar agrees to such a step, it will mean that he admits that he is wrong about «overcoming» the Ukrainian split. Therefore, in the understanding of Bartholomew, the UOC has only one way out — to join the OCU on the terms of the OCU.

The fourth and most important thing is that all such conversations take place without taking into account the factor of ordinary clergy and laity. After so many years of abuse by the OCU, the vast majority of ordinary priests and believers of the UOC do not even want to hear about uniting with this structure! How, for example, should the priests of the UOC stand behind the same throne as those who took away their churches? How should UOC believers stand in common prayer with those who beat them and branded them «Muscovites»? And the point here is not «the right and left cheek,» but the elementary restoration of justice, without which reconciliation is simply impossible. To unite with those who have been trying to «nullify» you for years on end means to recognize the rightness of their previous actions. To recognize that everything they did made sense.

Thus, as we see it, the BOC is now actively trying to sweeten the pill for the Patriarch of Constantinople, who has suffered a serious setback in Bulgaria. The same set of measures can include an explanation for Bartholomew’s absence at the first service of the newly elected Bulgarian Patriarch, which for some reason was published on behalf of the BOC Synod, and not the Phanar’s press service. In the end, Bartholomew could have simply prayed at the said Liturgy or even concelebrated with Patriarch Daniel. What is the problem? Nevertheless, it is obvious that the BOC is in no hurry to spoil relations with Phanar, hence all these attempts to smooth over the impression of Bartholomew’s failure, in particular, by involving the Ukrainian issue.