KDAiS rector: The Statute is an internal document, UOC shouldn’t publish it

KDAiS rector, Archbishop Sylvester. Photo: mitropolia.kiev.ua

The Statute on the management of the UOC is a purely internal church document, which the state only takes note of. Archbishop Sylvester, the rector of the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary (KDAiS) of the UOC, stated this in an interview with Dialog.Tut.

According to him, the fact that the new Statute of the UOC was not published became the subject of numerous speculations in the information space.

The archbishop noted that the Statute is not subject to state registration since the Ukrainian Orthodox Church does not have the status of a legal entity.

“Our Church is made up of thousands of parishes and hundreds of monasteries, which are legal entities and have their own statutes. It is these statutes that are subject to state registration,” said the rector of the KDAiS.

At the same time, Vladyka emphasized that the Statute of the UOC does not provide for a norm according to which it enters into force only after its official publication.

The rector of the KDAiS also recalled that on July 2, 2022, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience confirmed that the UOC does not need to register changes to its Statute.

“The Statute on the management of the UOC is provided today by the Kyiv Metropolis to all the ruling bishops who apply to the Metropolis with such a request,” says the archbishop. “In addition, the text of the Statute was published on the website of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience. Therefore, it is available to everyone for review.

As earlier reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed to check the Statute of the UOC for a connection with the RF.

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