Yelensky tried to justify why the DESS was able to transfer only 17% of the UOC parishes to the OCU

The head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), Viktor Yelensky, tried to justify why, in the seven years since the creation of the OCU, the organization has managed to transfer only 17% of the parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Yelensky noted that almost two thousand communities had “transferred” from the UOC to the OCU, which, in his opinion, is a fairly good indicator. He stated this on the air of Ukrainian Radio.

“First, almost 2,000 parishes have transferred to the OCU. That’s a lot. That’s more than several local Orthodox churches combined. That’s one side of the coin. On the other hand, church life has never changed dramatically. That’s also a very important point. Thirdly, parishioners very often live their everyday lives. And if the priest who baptized them and their children does not demonstrate a position for which the parishioners could remove him from the church, which has happened, then they can reconcile themselves, saying that he is not doing anything bad to us. But I know that in many parishes of the UOC there are doubts about whether we are doing the right thing by remaining part of the Moscow Patriarchate. And no matter how much this priest tells them that, look, we have almost broken with the Moscow Patriarchate, such parishioners demand a complete break. Because they understand that at any moment, the ties that bind them could be strained,” – the official said.

Yelensky added that priests and believers of the UOC come up with various reasons not to transfer to the OCU. However, in his opinion, the two thousand parishes of the UOC that have already been re-registered in the OCU are not so few.

“Citizens often speak out. But again, for many, there is no need for this. They believe that everything is going its own way and there is no need for radical changes. For others, there is no opportunity to start such a campaign now. Still others say that we, as a whole church, will break with the Moscow Patriarchate. It is difficult for us to even imagine the ideas that sometimes circulate in parishes. For example, I had to talk to a woman who was told by a priest that she could transfer to the OCU, but then she would not meet her husband, who was buried in this church, in the next world. This is “beyond comprehension,” but sometimes the state of such magical consciousness pushes people to accept such nonsense. But I repeat that the 2,000 who have transferred to the OCU during this time is not a small number,” – said the head of the DESS.