OCU Hierarch Matfey: “We were called schismatics, with manipulation of the canons”

Hierarch Matfey of the Volodymyr-Volyn diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) recently stated in an interview that Ukraine needs spiritual independence through “its own local Church.” The interview was published by the BUG news agency.

When asked why, in his view, Ukrainians need a “church of their own,” Matfey said:
“The Church shapes our identity, roots us in our own history and spirituality,” adding that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is “our path to the future.” In his opinion, only through a local independent Church is spiritual liberation possible.
“If we have our own Church — we have our own state,” he emphasized, effectively presenting the Church as a tool of nation-building.

He also commented on the criticism that the OCU is non-canonical:
“Propaganda dating back to the Russian Empire banned everything Ukrainian — language, culture, the desire for independence… We were called schismatics, non-canonical, with manipulation of the canons.”

He stressed that the issue of OCU autocephaly was resolved by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople:
“As a result, we received the Tomos and are today a fully recognized local Orthodox Church.”

Matfey also stated that the ideology of the “Russian world” still influences Ukrainian society, but in his words, “Ukrainians are gradually breaking free from it.”

In the context of proclaimed church sovereignty, he also cited the phrase:
“First recognize yourself — then others will recognize you.”

Earlier it was reported that on May 5, 2025, OCU supporters in the town of Brody, Lviv region, held a religious gathering near the fence of a closed Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) parish dedicated to the Myrrh-Bearing Women. After the gathering, they attached a Ukrainian flag to the fence — symbolically “celebrating” the patronal feast of the closed UOC church, which remains in private ownership and thus protected from raider seizures.

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