The current state of affairs in the OCU under Epiphany is assessed as tragic, - according to Phanar media

The Greek-American publication The Orthodox Times, which is considered to be close to the American Archdiocese of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, published an article based on insider information from Ukraine and Phanar. According to the publication, Phanar does not have particularly warm feelings toward the OCU due to doubts about the correctness of the choice of Epiphany Dumenko as head of the organization. At the same time, as noted in the media, internal contradictions are intensifying within the OCU itself, arising from the authoritarian position of the leadership of the Ukrainian schism. The article was published on The Orthodox Times website.

“There is no mission, no theology. It is telling that, although Russia has been at war with Ukraine for three years, one might have expected all Orthodox Ukrainians to rush to the newly created church, especially given the UOC’s ties to Moscow. But this did not happen. In fact, some Romanian-speaking parishes in Ukraine preferred to pay tribute to Patriarch Daniel of Romania and leave the UOC rather than join the Autocephalous Church led by Metropolitan Epiphanius. This is very disturbing,” – the publication’s sources note.

In addition, the publication noted that Dumenko was unable to become the person who would unite Ukrainian Orthodoxy. This is clearly understood at the Phanar, but so far there is no understanding of what to do about it.

“The problems associated with the Ukrainian church issue are multifaceted – and also very personal. Metropolitan Epiphanius is not an inspiring figure. If someone like Anastasius had gone to Ukraine, he would have attracted all Orthodox Christians like a magnet. They would have united around him. But now there is a person who is not accepted — who cannot unite them,” – the article added.

Earlier, we reported that the head of the American Archdiocese of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Archbishop Elpidophoros, criticized Epiphanius Dumenko for violating certain provisions of the Tomos of Autocephaly of the OCU. Elpidophoros noted that the head of the OCU turns a blind eye to the fact that representatives of the organization are opening parishes abroad, despite the fact that the Tomos expressly prohibits the OCU from doing so.