They don't want to end up in a schism”: Religious scholar explains why the UOC will not comply with the state's demands to sever ties with the Moscow Patriarchate

Andriy 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 despite the state’s demands, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will not go so far as to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. In his opinion, the UOC is afraid of finding itself in a schism, which threatens the Church in the event of self-proclaimed autocephaly. He said this in a comment to the publication Glavred.

“There will definitely be no complete break with the ROC, because the UOC does not want to end up in a schism, and the bishops do not want to be punished by the Moscow Patriarchate. That is why the UOC will not take the drastic steps towards autocephaly that the state is demanding,” — Smirnov commented.

We will remind you that recently, DESS expert and OCU lobbyist Yuriy Chornomorets spoke about how long the litigation would take if the Ukrainian Orthodox Church refused to comply with the requirements of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience. The religious scholar claims that if the UOC refuses to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church, the courts will take several months, after which the Church will be deprived of its registration and real estate.