Relations between the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine are hardly maintained. There is no desire to this end on the part of the head of the UOC-MP, Metropolitan Onufriy.
The head of the OCU, Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine, said this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
“As for relations with the MP as such, they are practically non-existent, we only cross paths with Metropolitan Onufriy at official events, we greet each other, but there is no communication on the topic of unification,” he said.
According to Epifaniy, the lack of relations is due to the fact that they, especially the head of the ROCinU Onufriy, have no desire to this end.
Metropolitan Epifaniy recalled that he considered the Moscow Patriarchate “Putin’s last outpost in Ukraine, because Putin is losing Ukraine as the country is moving towards Europe, towards NATO, and we see the hysteria on the part of Russia at the moment. The Russian Church plays an important role for the aggressor power, and so they are trying to keep it as it is today. ”
At the same time, according to Epifaniy, after the Unification Council, Ukraine became the canonical territory of the OCU. “And the MP (Moscow Patriarchate, ed.), which refers to itself as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, is non-canonical as such in Ukraine. Also, according to the law, they must be renamed,” the Metropolitan added.
