OCU hierarch: If OCU did not seize UOC churches, it would help unification process

Oleksandr Drabynko, a former bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who joined the OCU in 2018, admitted that the OCU seizes churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, often doing so “illegally.” Drabinko is convinced that such behavior by OCU representatives does not contribute to the unification process of the two denominations. In his opinion, if this did not happen, the dialog between the UOC and the OCU would be established faster. Oleksandr Drabinko said this in an interview with the YouTube channel Obozrevatel.

“This process (of unification of the UOC and the OCU — Ed.) is going too slowly, since the church structure itself remains rather inert. I communicate a lot with my former colleagues from the Moscow Patriarchate, and they say that changes are needed, but there is no consolidating factor. A lot of believers are afraid that they may end up in a religious organization in which the sacraments are not valid, as has been explained for many years. That is, there is a need for educational work on the part of the OCU so that its doors are truly open, and not just talked about,” — Drabinko said.

The hierarch added that the OCU does not want to unite with the UOC because they hold a grudge for the previous years, when they were “persecuted” for being non-canonical. Moreover, in his opinion, the OCU’s policy towards the churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church does not contribute to the establishment of a dialogue. Drabinko admitted that the OCU often seizes UOC churches “illegally.”

“A lot of hierarchs and priests who were once in the UAOC and the UOC-KP are unable to forgive the persecution that they were subjected to in their time and cannot accept as their brothers those who come from the Moscow Patriarchate. And this, unfortunately, is in the seventh year of the existence of the OCU, of which I am one of the founders. […] As a result, we have a growing confrontation. Still, it would be necessary to show more love, and not, sometimes even illegally, to seize church premises. This would, in my opinion, speed up the process of assimilation and unification,” — he added.