Since the OCU obtained the Tomos of autocephaly, only 34 communities in Bukovyna have quit the Moscow Patriarchate, including 18 in the last two years.
OCU priest Roman Hryshchuk explains such a small number of transitions is due to several reasons, adding that only in Zakarpattia is the pace even slower.
The first reason, the priest explains, is the total illiteracy of the UOC (MP) clergy.
Only 25% of them have completed secondary or higher theological education. Therefore, priests lack knowledge of church history, canon law, the history of the Church and Ukraine. Hence the misunderstanding of the processes of formation of local Orthodox Churches, the ways of declaring, fighting for, acquiring, and recognizing autocephaly. As a result, they focus exclusively on ceremonialism and belonging to the “correct”, albeit anti-Ukrainian, hierarchy.
The second reason is ignorance of the Bible by clergy and the majority of laymen of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine
Hence the manipulations of replacing the concepts of church “unity in Christ” with unity under a single (Moscow) patriarch, as a mandatory condition for salvation. And there are appeals to stick to “the purity of the faith”, which, in their opinion, consists precisely in the subordination to Onufriy and Kirill,” explains the clergyman.
He further emphasizes nepotism among the priests of the UOC MP.
“In the village of Korytne alone, Metropolitan Onufriy ordained about 80 former drivers, foremen, and unemployed priests with practically no spiritual education! It was enough to provide chauffeur services to him for a few weeks or carry suitcases for him, and here you go, you’re a priest now!” says the cleric.
Also, esprit de corps and the personality cult play their role.
“It’s no secret for Bukovyna residents that Metropolitan Onufriy has rather primitive knowledge and his sermons are not particularly literate or profound. But his simplicity is presented as a special kind of ‘righteousness’, almost ‘holiness’, and his fans are ready to canonize him, even though he is still alive. Hence such an easy perception and even gratitude when they throw dyed eggs at you, or instead of a blessing they hit you on the head with a stick,” Roman Hryschuk explains.
Among other reasons for the small number of transitions, the cleric singles out the sowing of enmity for others, apocalyptic intimidation, and the lack of truthful information in Romanian-speaking villages.
“The spread of outright lies that, they say, if the Ukrainians seize the churches by force, that if the OCU takes over, they will force everyone to pray in Ukrainian and ban Romanian, etc.,” says Hryschuk.
Perhaps one of the most important elements is the strong fusion of the UOC-MP with pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian parties, and also offering the faithful the “choice without a choice.”
“It’s as if to say that if you are Orthodox, you must belong to our denomination, the one headed by Onufriy, the one that is in unity with Patriarch Kirill, according to the letter of Alexius. Otherwise, if you do not belong to this patriarchate, then you are not Orthodox so hell awaits you,” Father Roman wrote.
