UOC hierarch: Ukrainian Orthodox Church is not affiliated with any foreign center

The head of the Synodal Information and Education Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Klyment (Vecheria), commented on the initiative of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience to check the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC for affiliation with foreign centers. The hierarch claims that the anti-church law No. 3894 has nothing to do with the UOC, since nowhere in the statutory documents of the Church is there any mention of any control from abroad. The hierarch said this in a commentary to Radio Liberty.

“This law is about religious organizations that are affiliated with foreign centers. And the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, according to all the documents that are legitimate in Ukraine, is not affiliated with any foreign center,” — said Metropolitan Klyment.

Earlier, the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine, published an address on the occasion of the third anniversary of the UOC Council, which was held on May 27, 2022, in Feofaniya. The Primate emphasized that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has all the attributes of an independent structure, and therefore expects that this status of the UOC will be supported by the Local Churches.