“It’s a natural process,” — OCU hierarch on the seizure of UOC churches in Poltava region

In the Poltava region, the process of seizing churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church continues, with the aim of transferring them under the control of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). According to the head of the Poltava Diocese of the OCU, Fedir, approximately 10 communities have “joined” the OCU since the enactment of the law banning the UOC. This was reported by Suspilne Poltava.

The OCU hierarch noted that the most recent communities to “transfer” to the OCU were from Lubny, the Lubny district, and Kotelva. In these cases, the church seizures were accompanied by the replacement of the parish priests.

“Not only the communities joined us, but also their clergy, which is an important point. But I believe this has nothing to do with any external factors or the new law. This is a natural process that has been going on for some time,” said the head of the Poltava Diocese of the OCU.

He stated that the pace of parish “transfers” does not depend on the adoption of Law No. 3894. According to him, “the decision to change jurisdictions is made after lengthy discussion and careful consideration, which makes the process slow and deliberate.”

Currently, 165 religious communities of the OCU are registered in the Poltava region. As the OCU representative notes, this process is “natural and not connected to political or legal developments.”

Earlier, it was reported that the public organization “Sofiyske Brotherhood,” which includes some clergymen of the UOC and representatives of the OCU, announced the launch of an educational project aimed at “debunking myths to consolidate Ukrainian Orthodoxy.” The organization claims that this initiative is meant to counter “myths” in the media, which allegedly deepen the rift between the UOC and the OCU and hinder the unification of the two denominations.