UOC KP spokesman accuses Orthodox hierarchs of corruption

Spokesman of the Kyiv Patriarchate, Archbishop Evstratiy Zoria, accused Orthodox hierarchs of promoting the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church for money. He made this statement, commenting on the words of the representative of the Polish Orthodox Church, Archbishop George of Wroclaw and Szczecin, that the Kyiv Patriarchate should not expect recognition from the Constantinople Church.

According to him, "it is reliably known about the whole network of hierarchs of the Local Churches", which are "closely connected, some from the Soviet times, with the ROC". At the same time, he did not provide any evidence of "reliability".

Zoria accused Orthodox hierarchs who criticize the split, that they "have support from Her (i.e. the ROC - Ed.), including material support, and in return they promote interests of the MP."

"It is these people who are most often invited to take part in events of the MP both in Russia and tin Ukraine, where they carry respective agreements with their "center," the dissenters' spokesman claimed.

This is not the first accusation made by the representative of the Kyiv Patriarchate against Orthodox hierarchs, including heads of the Orthodox Churches. On September 3, 2015, he openly accused the Primate of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, Theodore II, and in 2016 – the representative of the Patriarchate of Antioch, Metropolitan Nifon.

"Corruption-based opinion" and "Alexandrian paid journalism" were the words Zoria referred to Patriarch Theodore in support of the UOC, and Metropolitan Nifon was accused that he has been allegedly promoting the interests of the ROC "since the time of General Secretary Brezhnev and KGB head Andropov."

Let's remind, representatives of almost all Local Churches negatively expressed their attitude towards the Kyiv Patriarchate. Among them are not only individual hierarchies, but also their leaders. In particular, the heads of the Serbian, Albanian, Jerusalem, Polish, Alexandrian and other Local Churches condemned the actions of the schismatics. Whether the spokesman of the UOC-KP considers their position "bought" – he did not specify.

Read also