Archbishop Elpidophoros: UOC hierarchs did not participate in Unification Council due to pressure from special services

Archbishop Elpidophoros of America (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Patriarchate of Constantinople) claims that the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church did not participate in the so-called Unification Council of 2018 because of pressure on them from the special services. The archbishop noted that the UOC bishops were influenced by Russian intelligence and other special services, which used their “personal files” against them. He said this in an interview with the YouTube channel Viche.

“The reason is obvious, but I don’t know if anyone has spoken about it publicly and openly. The reason why a large number of hierarchs (of the UOC – ed.) did not join the autocephalous church was the unfair pressure they felt, the unfair pressure of the special services, intelligence services, Russian services, which blackmailed them through personal affairs, pressured or even threatened them not to join,” Elpidophoros said.

At the same time, the Phanar hierarch did not give specific examples that could confirm his words. At the same time, Archbishop Elpidophoros ignored the facts of pressure on the clergy and believers of the UOC by the Ukrainian special services in order to persuade them to join the OCU.

Earlier, we reported that unexpected details about the recent corruption scandal involving the head of the Stavropegion of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Ukraine, Bishop Mikhail Anishchenko of Komana, were shared by religious scholar and media lobbyist Yuri Chernomorets. According to Chornomorets, Anishchenko’s attempt to bail out former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshev, who is one of the main suspects in the case of corruption and illegal enrichment in the highest echelons of the Ukrainian government, is connected with pressure on the bishop by the Security Service of Ukraine.