The meeting in Theophany was a disguise - OCU lobbyist Sagan

Oleksandr Sagan, a lobbyist for the OCU, head of the Department of Religious Studies at the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences, said that the Local Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Feofaniya, which took place in 2022, was actually a disguise. He is convinced that the UOC did not actually sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church, as expected, but maintained its affiliation through the “Letter of Patriarch Alexy II.” Sagan said this on the air of Radio Kultura.

“This has changed absolutely nothing. This is a disguised action, the purpose of which was simply to mimic, but not to solve anything. That is, by removing references to the Moscow center in the text of the charter, they introduce another norm that they operate in Ukraine on the basis of a letter from the Moscow Patriarch. And this letter clearly states that it is a structural unit of the Russian Orthodox Church. The new law has 7 features that clearly define the dependence of this organization on its religious center. The main features are very simple: being part of the governing structures of their center, implementing central decisions, being part of the executive services, etc. If we analyze the events of May 27, 2022, we will see an interesting thing: there was not a single statement by any hierarch, including Metropolitan Onufriy, that they were breaking off relations with the Moscow center. Metropolitan Onufriy is a permanent member of the governing body of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Synod, and there has been no statement that he has withdrawn from this body. All bishops, without exception, are members of the governing bodies of the Moscow Patriarchate, namely the Council of Bishops and the Local Council. That is, nothing has changed,” – Sagan said.

Earlier, MP of Ukraine from the European Solidarity party Rostyslav Pavlenko explained why the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is still considered part of the Moscow Patriarchate. Pavlenko believes that a direct proof of such affiliation is the Letter of Patriarch Alexy II “On Granting Independence and Autonomy to the UOC” of 1990.