OCU hierarch believes authorities will not be able to completely destroy UOC

The head of the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the OCU, Matviy Shevchuk, believes that despite all attempts, the state will not be able to completely destroy the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In his opinion, the UOC will still retain its clergy, parishes, and believers, so the state can only limit the rights of the canonical Church as much as possible. He said this in an interview with the regional publication Bug.

“Even if it is officially recognized as the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, and not the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, there will still be parishes, clergy and monasteries that will operate in the paradigm of the ‘Russian world’. But we are a democratic state, so we cannot forbid people to pray. However, this structure should be legally limited, because its center is in the aggressor country. And it is important that it has an honest name — the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine. People should clearly understand who they are dealing with,” — Shevchuk said.

Earlier, the OCU lobbyist and freelance expert of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) Andriy Smirnov said that in the short term it will not be possible to take away the Holy Dormition Pochayiv Lavra from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Smirnov believes that the influence of the UOC in Pochayiv and the region as a whole is very strong. In addition, the OCU has no monks to populate and maintain such large monastery complexes.