ROC representative: UOC's ties with Moscow Patriarchate belong only to spiritual level

Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov), Secretary of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate for Inter-Christian Relations, spoke about the ties between the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches. According to Hieromonk Stefan, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been autonomous and independent in its activities since 1990, and its current connection with the Russian Orthodox Church is exclusively spiritual. He said this in an interview with The Orthodox Times.

«One way or another, since the early 1990s, the UOC has had the full right to autonomy, and its connection with the Moscow Patriarchate belongs only to the spiritual level. According to all the rules, the UOC has this autonomy. The only connection they have with the Moscow Patriarchate is spiritual, there is no other connection. But this is a separate issue,» — said the priest.

Hieromonk Stefan added that the UOC remains the only canonical Church in Ukraine recognized by other Local Churches. In this regard, the creation of the OCU leads to division in Ukrainian society.

«We have very strict canons, and we have to look at what the canons prescribe. This is not an issue that is decided by individual churches or by someone’s will. It all depends on the canons. In Ukraine, we have the canonical Orthodox Church, recognized by all. Since there is already an Orthodox Church in Ukraine, the creation of another Orthodox Church leads to division among the people, and therefore to a split. Secondly, these persons (OCU — ed.) were not canonically ordained. Moreover, the events that followed this decision clearly show that it opened the door to persecution of the canonical Church in Ukraine. Therefore, first of all, we must heal this condition. We must restore our fraternal relations,» — added the representative of the ROC DECR.

Earlier, we reported that Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Vershinin, during a meeting with the High Representative of the UN Secretary-General for the Alliance of Civilizations Miguel Moratinos, called on the international community to pay attention to the repression of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Estonian Orthodox Church.