On October 24, 2024, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to remove Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol from the top post in the Donetsk Diocese and send him to rest. Similar unilateral changes affected other UOC dioceses located in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, without any agreement with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. UOC bishops condemned these actions as anti-canonical and violating church law. In addition, they demand from the Moscow Patriarchate respect for the borders of the UOC, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
“We, the bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, strongly condemn this decision, which is anti-canonical, since church law regulates the canonical relations between the Orthodox Churches,” reads the statement of the UOC Bishops, published on the Telegram channel of the Odesa Diocese of the UOC.
Ukrainian bishops recall that since 1990, according to the Tomos of Patriarch Alexy II, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been canonically independent. This was confirmed by the decision of the UOC Council on May 27, 2022. They regard Moscow’s interference in the internal affairs of the UOC as a gross violation of the Second Canon of the Second Ecumenical Council, which requires the observance of jurisdictional boundaries “warning against any attempts by one Church to take control of the territory of another”, and the Eighth Canon of the Third Ecumenical Council, which prohibits any the intervention of one bishop in the jurisdiction of another bishop.
The removal of Metropolitan Hilarion, who was the archpastor of Donetsk region for years, and the appointment of a Russian bishop in his place were seen as a step towards the annexation of the canonical territory of the UOC and an attempt to “destroy its autonomy and independence.”
In their statement, the bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church emphasized that such actions by Moscow are directed against the independence of Ukraine and the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. UOC bishops called on the Russian Orthodox Church to abandon its aggressive church policy, cancel the decisions regarding dioceses in the occupied territories, and show respect for the borders of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
“We do not agree with such a decision, we demand its immediate revocation, we call to abandon the aggressive church policy towards the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its long-suffering flock, to respect the borders of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” the statement reads.
The statement was signed by the following UOC hierarchs:
AHAFANGEL, Metropolitan of Odesa and Izmail
ANATOLIY, Metropolitan of Polissia and Sarny
AHAPIT, Metropolitan of Mohyliv-Podilskyi and Sharhorod
OLEKSIY, Metropolitan of Balta and Ananyiv
NIKODYM, Metropolitan of Zhytomyr and Novohrad-Volynskyi
VOLODYMIR, Metropolitan of Volodymyr-Volynskyi and Kovel
YEVLOHIY, Metropolitan of Sumy and Okhtyrka
FEODOR, Metropolitan of Mukachevo and Uzhhorod
Volodymyr, Metropolitan of Kamianka and Tsarichansk
FILARET, Metropolitan of Lviv and Halych
MIKOLAI, Metropolitan of Kremenchuh and Lubny
VARSONOFIY, Metropolitan of Vinnytsia and Bar
OLEKSIY, Metropolitan of Voznesensk and Pervomaisk
BOGOLEP, Metropolitan of Alexandria and Svitlovodsk
NAFANYIL, Metropolitan of Volyn and Lutsk
VIKTOR, Metropolitan of Khmelnytskyi and Starokostiantynivsk
PANTELEIMON, Archbishop of Bucha
ALEXANDER, Archbishop of Horodnyche
IONA, Archbishop of Obukhiv
DIODOR, Archbishop of Yuzhne
VIKTOR, Archbishop of Artsysk
IONA, Archbishop of Zolotonosha
SERHIY, Archbishop of Bolhrad
PYMEN, Archbishop of Rivne and Ostroh
SPYRYDON, Archbishop of Dobropil
NYKODYM, Archbishop of Lubech
KYRYL, Bishop of Byshiv
IAKOV, Bishop of Drohobych
ILARIY, Bishop of Svaliava
ALIPIY, Bishop of Tarutyn
ANASTASIY, Bishop of Ovidiopil
