We are must state that only four Local Churches have recognized the OCU, - religious scholar

Ukrainian religious scholar Oleksandr Brodetsky admitted that only four Local Orthodox Churches have recognized the OCU. The expert emphasized that the Romanian Orthodox Church could be the next on this path, but this is not happening for various reasons. He said this in an interview with Suspilne.

“We are forced to state that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has been recognized only by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Greek Church, the Church of Cyprus and the Church of Alexandria. Churches such as the Polish, Bulgarian, Albanian, Romanian, Jerusalem, and Antiochian Churches have not yet recognized the OCU,” — the religious scholar said.

Brodetsky added that the Romanian Patriarchate could have recognized the OCU, but due to the claims of this Local Church to Ukrainian parishes and disagreement with this fact in the OCU itself, the process of establishing communion was stopped.

“By the way, the Romanian Orthodox Church stated that it was ready to recognize, but there are certain nuances, certain reservations, so we do not have this recognition. The Romanian Orthodox Church is actively seeking to establish a representative office in the Chernivtsi region, where there are Romanian-speaking parishes. That is, to make these parishes belong to the Romanian Church. The secular legislation of Ukraine does not prohibit such things. But given the situation, the context, the martial law, this raises certain concerns,” — he added.

Earlier, we reported that the hierarch of the Greek Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Nektarios of Kerkyra, expressed support for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, its Primate, clergy and faithful. The hierarch expressed his solidarity with the UOC, which is going through difficult trials.