OCU continues to violate the provisions of the Tomos, invading the canonical territory of the Polish Church

The OCU, which claims to be on an equal footing among the Local Orthodox Churches, continues to violate its own Tomos and the canonical territory of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church. This time, despite the Tomos’ ban on the OCU’s activities abroad, on February 9, 2025, the head of the Rivne Diocese of the OCU, Hilarion Protsyk, visited Warsaw, where he held religious events that were clearly not coordinated with the OCU. It is also worth noting that the event was attended by a representative of the local diocese of the Roman Catholic Church. This is reported by the official website of the OCU.

“With the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine, Metropolitan Hilarion of Rivne and Ostroh, head of the Mission of Chaplaincy Assistance to the OCU believers who were forced to leave Ukraine due to Russian aggression, paid an archpastoral visit to Poland. On February 9, on the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee, Metropolitan Hilarion led the Divine Liturgy in Warsaw. His Eminence was concelebrated by Archpriest Serhiy Sirenko, Archpriest Ihor Kohut, Archpriest Vasyl Rudnytsky, Archimandrite Serhiy Yarovoy, Archpriest Fedir Shevchuk, priest Yuriy Kokhansky, Protodeacon Vitaliy Rybchynsky and Protodeacon Andriy Mykosyanchyk,”–  the OCU website reports.

In addition, on the same day, Protsyk met with Archbishop Andrian Galbas, head of the Warsaw Metropolis of the Roman Catholic Church. The RCC representative assured the OCU hierarch of further support and development of relations.

“On the same day, the head of the Chaplaincy Mission of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine met with Archbishop Andrian Galbas, head of the Warsaw Metropolis of the Roman Catholic Church. The meeting was held in the spirit of Christian brotherhood and mutual support. Bishop Hilarion conveyed greetings from His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy to Archbishop Andrian and thanked him for the assistance provided by the Catholic Church in Poland to Ukrainian refugees. It was noted that Polish Catholic communities have opened their doors to Ukrainians since the first days of the war, providing them with comprehensive assistance. Particular attention was paid to the issues of pastoral care for Ukrainian immigrants. Metropolitan Hilarion emphasized the need to expand opportunities for Orthodox worship, support the clergy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Warsaw, and develop interfaith dialogue to serve people in this difficult time. Archbishop Andrian Galbas assured that the Catholic Church in Warsaw will continue to support Ukrainians and expressed his solidarity with Ukraine,” – the news reports.

As reported, the Synod of the OCU, which took place recently, expressed dissatisfaction and sadness over the unfriendly attitude of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church to the Ukrainian schism. The OCU noted that the OCU defiantly ignored the political event held in Warsaw on December 9-11, 2024, which was attended by Epiphany Dumenko.