Expert: Epiphany and Filaret will continue to “lock horns”

Filaret Denisenko and Epiphany Dumenko. Photo: 24 Channel

The leader of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko and the “Honorary Patriarch” Filaret Denisenko will continue mutual accusations, and this will reduce the number of schismatics' parishes, as well as suspend the development of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, said the candidate of political sciences Kirill Molchanov in a commentary to “Golos.ua”.

“In the near future, “locking horns” between Filaret and Epiphanius will continue due to the fact that the OCO project turned out to be political,” the political scientist explained. “As a result, the number of parishes has decreased, and the project has stopped developing. In general, this is more of an anti-Russian project than an attempt to organize a local Church in Ukraine.”

According to Molchanov, the authorities will continue the policy of non-interference in the affairs of the Church and will not put pressure on Denisenko, and the OCU will wait for the head of the UOC-KP to pass away.

“Now the OCU is semi-canonical and unrecognized, divided into the OCU and the UOC-KP,” the political expert emphasized. “If Epiphany obeys the Ecumenical Patriarchate, then they will not take away the Tomos. If he insists on taking his course like Filaret, I don’t exclude that Ukraine may be threatened with the loss of the Tomos.”

As reported earlier, the “Holy Synod” of the OCU retroactively retired the head of the liquidated UOC-KP Filaret Denisenko and forbade him to make ordinations. In turn, the press service of the Kyiv Patriarchate reminded that the "Honorary Patriarch" is the head of the UOC-KP, and not a member of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine recognized by Constantinople, and therefore the decisions of the OCU "do not have canonical and legal force since it is a different Church".

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