OCU Describes Itself as "Independent and Recognized in the Orthodox World"

Serhii Narolskyi, a cleric of the OCU’s Dnipro Diocese, shared his perspective on the differences between the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in a comment to journalists. According to him, the UOC allegedly is not independent but “a part of the Russian Church.” This was reported by Suspilne Dnipro.

“This is the fundamental difference between the two churches. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine is an independent autocephalous church that functions, exists, and is recognized on equal footing with other local Orthodox churches,” Narolskyi stated.

The OCU cleric also offered his assessment of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, claiming: “Participants of the Russian Church have descended into religious fanaticism and madness, calling Russia’s war against Ukraine sacred.”

Previously, it was also reported that Ukrainian MP and head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, as well as co-author of the law banning the UOC, Mykyta Poturaiev, accused the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the National Agency on Corruption Prevention of delaying the implementation of the anti-church law No. 3894, aimed at prohibiting the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Poturaiev believes that the process of banning the UOC could have started long ago, without waiting for the nine-month deadline to expire.