Ecumenical Patriarchate Priest: The Tomos Deepened, Not Healed, the Ukrainian Church Schism

Archpriest Andrey Kordochkin, a clergyman of the Ecumenical Patriarchate who formerly served in the Russian Orthodox Church and was suspended for his anti-war stance, shared his perspective on the church situation in Ukraine. According to him, the process of granting autocephaly was poorly handled and led to a deeper division rather than the intended unification. He spoke about this in an interview with FROK-Studio.

Kordochkin emphasized that state interference in Church affairs is unacceptable, as healing schism can only come from the voluntary decision of the faithful, not from administrative pressure. “Religious freedom in Ukraine is essentially nonexistent today,” the priest said, adding that the primary responsibility lies with state authorities, not the Church.

He expressed particular concern over violent actions against churches and monasteries, calling the “forcible seizure of property” unacceptable, especially in the case of monastic communities for whom the monastery is home. He stressed that any transition of parishes to another jurisdiction must be based solely on the decision of the congregation itself, free from external coercion.

Finally, the priest noted that today’s challenges require the Church to consider not only canonical norms but also moral principles, which increasingly define true legitimacy.

It was also previously reported that Serhii Narolskyi, a cleric of the Dnipro diocese of the OCU, expressed his view to journalists that the UOC is supposedly not independent but rather “a part of the Russian Church.”