OCU lobbyist: Metropolitan Onufriy will not make any sudden moves until the end of the war

OCU lobbyist and freelance expert of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) Andriy Smirnov is convinced that the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will not change the status of the UOC until the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The expert admitted that legislative initiatives to ban the Church will not lead to the expected results. He said this in a commentary to LB.ua.

“The goal was to push the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to break ties with the Moscow Patriarchate. But these ties have not been severed. And property problems do not solve the problem of the existence of a church affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate,” Smirnov said.

He believes that the state should negotiate with the leadership of the church, in particular with the bishops. However, one should not count on the Primate of the UOC, Metropolitan Onufriy, in this matter.

“Metropolitan Onufriy has taken a wait-and-see attitude – he is waiting for the war to end and does not take any drastic steps. There is no other such authoritative personality in the UOC-MP. And Metropolitan Anthony Pakanych, who is a gray cardinal in the church, is a supporter of keeping the UOC-MP in line with Moscow,” he added.

As reported, Ukrainian political analyst Kostyantyn Bondarenko suggested that the Ukrainian authorities may go to provoke an artificial split in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In his opinion, the key factor of pressure may be the situation around the Primate of the UOC, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy, who, according to available information, was deprived of Ukrainian citizenship and may be expelled from the country.