"This is definitely not Metropolitan Onufriy's initiative": media share details of UOC bishops' statement

The media began to analyze the “Statement of the Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church regarding the actions of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church in the direction of the dioceses of the UOC” published the day before. The media claim that the initiator of the statement was Metropolitan Agafangel of Odesa and Izmail, who is a close friend of former Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol. In addition, sources in the UOC claim that the Primate of the Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy of Kyiv and All Ukraine, has nothing to do with this initiative. This information was published by the BBC.

«First of all, all the interlocutors say that this statement is definitely not an initiative of Metropolitan Onufriy to ‘let off steam’ or something like that. It seems that it really appeared behind his back and without his support. Another important point is that everyone claims that Metropolitan Agafangel of Odesa is the driving force behind the statement. Although there are many influential bishops and metropolitans among the signatories, some of the participants are close to him. According to the interlocutors, Agafangel had long-standing friendly relations with Donetsk’s Hilarion, so he could have started such activity when the latter was removed by Moscow in late October, and the UOC remained silent,» the publication reports.

In addition, the publication’s sources say that the statement will not particularly affect the situation within the UOC, as the Church has always had a free atmosphere for expressing certain opinions.

«At the same time, the UOC itself informally says that this statement will not have any serious consequences for the church. “The UOC has always been democratic in this regard, and has not been repressed for expressing opinions,” the source said. Moreover, the church says, this situation is not related to the bishops’ desire for quick autocephaly or any sudden moves toward the OCU or Constantinople, bypassing the primate. Although, as many observers have noted, such a sharp statement bypassing Metropolitan Onufriy may still be the first call to the primate that something is wrong in his kingdom and he should finally start making moves to save and develop the UOC,” the BBC added.

As reported, on October 31, 2024, a statement of the bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church appeared on the network, in which the hierarchs express their disagreement with the decisions of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church in connection with the dismissal of Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol from the post of the head of the Donetsk Diocese. The text of the statement was signed by more than 30 hierarchs of the UOC. In it, the hierarchs call on the Russian Church to respect the canonical territory of the UOC and to stop dismissing UOC hierarchs in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.