Zoria: The priest distributing the Communion online is not a member of OCU

Igor Savva together with the “hierarch” of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Alexander (Drabinko) at the “liturgy” in the Transfiguration Cathedral. Photo: Savva's Facebook page

On May 12, 2020, the OCU spokesman Eustraty Zoria announced that the “priest” Igor Savva, who performed the “online communion,” does not actually belong to his religious organization.

“The priest Igor Savva from Zaporizhia, who for some reason single-handedly decided to conduct such experiments, does not belong either to the Zaporizhia Diocese of the OCU (at the place of residence) or to the Pereyaslav Diocese of the OCU, the borders of which when it was created by the Holy Synod are marked so that they do not go beyond the borders of Kyiv and the Kyiv Region,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

However, in January 2019, on his Facebook page, Savva published a respective “Temporary Decree” signed by the OCU “hierarch” of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky and Vyshneve Alexander Drabinko.

Savva also published a photo that clearly shows him standing near the throne next to Drabinko during the “worship”:

At the same time Drabinko provided the cleric, whom Zoria does not consider the “clergyman” of the OCU, with an antimension.

A photo of this antimension is also available on Igor Savva's Facebook page, and the signature of the “hierarch” of the OCU as well as the city of Zaporizhia is clearly visible on it.

Eustraty Zoria noted in the comments: before writing this post, he made sure Savva does not belong to the “jurisdiction of the OCU hierarchs”.

In turn, on May 11, 2020, "priest" Igor Savva, in his comment under his post on "online liturgy" clarified that "so far no one in the OCU has deprived him of authority or banned him from ministry."

On the same day, under another post on Facebook that he “officially serves and is not going to give up on his ministry,” Savva announced his membership in the Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky Diocese of the OCU:

On May 12, 2020, the “ruling bishop” of the above diocese, Alexander Drabinko, in his comments below Zoria’s arguments that “online communion” is unacceptable made it clear that he supported the position of the OCU spokesman. When asked whether Savva is a clergyman of the church structure led by Epiphany Dumenko, Drabinko replied, "According to him, yes."

On May 12, 2020, Dmitry Vaysburd, another cleric who participated in the “online communion,” was expelled from the OCU.

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