It should be noted that the authors of the law “On the ban of the UOC” contradict themselves about how exactly the UOC should break ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. For example, Ukrainian MP and head of the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy Nikita Poturaev spoke about the requirements that the state sets before the episcopate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in connection with the adoption of the anti-church bill No. 8371 in the Verkhovna Rada. Poturaev claims that the withdrawal of the Primate and bishops of the UOC from the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church is an insufficient measure to fulfill the norms of the mentioned law.
“In fact, Constantinople is the mother church for the UOC,” - Viktor Yelenskiy
The head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, Viktor Yelensky, said that the Patriarchate of Constantinople is the “mother church” for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The official added that he can argue to the representatives of the UOC why they cannot remain part of the Russian Orthodox Church. Yelensky said this in an interview with the Ukrayinska Pravda media outlet.
“In fact, for the UOC, the mother church, like for most Orthodox churches, is the Church of Constantinople, the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Russian Church is the so-called kyriarchal church, that is, the one that holds them. I have already told them that if you want, I will write why you cannot be under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate,” — the official said.
The head of the DESS added that the unauthorized withdrawal of the UOC from the ROC would not be a canonical crime, as such a step would not lead to a loss of legitimacy.
“Leaving the Moscow Patriarchate will not mean a loss of legitimacy. When I spoke with the hierarchs of this church, I emphasized to them that the state does not require them to renounce Orthodoxy, does not require them to switch to another calendar, does not require them to switch to another liturgical language, does not require them to become part of another church, and does not require them to declare autocephaly on their own. That is, the state does not demand any conditions that would burden their conscience. And this is exactly what the sane wing of the UOC-Moscow Patriarchate should be talking about, as you say,” — Yelensky added.
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