Head of OCU accuses Russia of obstructing "transitions" of UOC religious communities to schism

The head of the OCU, Epiphany Dumenko, said that in recent years his organization has managed to seize more than two thousand religious communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Dumenko emphasized that this process is irreversible, despite the opposition from the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Federation.

According to Ukrinform, Epifaniy emphasized that the «transition» of communities continues and in recent years « more than 2 thousand religious communities from the Moscow Patriarchate have joined the OCU .» The head of the OCU acknowledged the complexity of this process due to the active resistance of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and the Russian Federation.

«We see in the media that the church issue is also present in the points of peace negotiations. That is, the preservation of the existence of the so-called Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is actually the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine,» Epifaniy said. In this regard, he said, the state seeks to prevent the use of religious organizations in Ukraine in the interests of Russia.

As reported, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia called for increased prayers for the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), who, according to him, are being persecuted. Particular attention was paid to Metropolitan Arseny of Sviatohirsk, who, despite serious health problems, was taken into custody again. The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church also emphasized the scale of persecution, including criminal cases, prison sentences and deprivation of citizenship against clerics of the canonical Church.