Recall that on the eve of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) issued a prescription to eliminate violations of the legislation of the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The decision was made based on the results of an investigation into the “probable links” of this religious organization with “a foreign structure whose activities are prohibited on the territory of Ukraine.”
Metropolitan Onufriy will not comply with DESS requirements, - expert
Andrei Smirnov, a lobbyist for the OCU and freelance expert at the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), is convinced that the leadership of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will not comply with the requirements that the DESS has imposed on the Church in connection with the anti-church law No. 3894. The expert claims that the Primate of the UOC will stall for time, waiting for the end of the war, after which he will make a decision on the future status of the Church. He spoke about this on the YouTube channel “Viche.”
«Metropolitan Onufry really dislikes it when people pressure him and demand that he do something. The council in Feofaniya was his decision, not under pressure from the state, and he conducted it as he wanted. And when the state demands that something be done, a person’s defensive reaction kicks in, and, of course, they will not comply with these requirements. Moreover, there is a huge pro-Russian lobby within the UOC, headed by Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich), who, by the way, knows how to draw up documents. I think they are deliberately not being drawn up because he is the administrator, all paperwork goes through him, and, of course, no one will comply with any orders,» — Smirnov said.
The DESS expert added that the UOC will sue the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience in order to drag out the process and wait for the war to end. In his opinion, only after the war will the Primate of the UOC decide how to develop the Ukrainian Orthodox Church further.
«Moreover, I think that a judicial strategy is already being developed with the aim of delaying the process. Every step of the DESS will be challenged and these regulations will be challenged. Accordingly, these thirty days will be postponed and extended for 90 days. They will look for excuses not to comply with these orders. Why? Because Metropolitan Onufriy is waiting for the war to end, and depending on its outcome, he will make a final decision — to return to the Russian Orthodox Church or, finally, being on the path to autocephaly, to start moving in this direction. So far, there has been no movement. There is a path, but no movement. It is necessary to appeal to the Local Churches, but there are no such appeals,» — he added.
Read also
