ROC reports registration of three UOC eparchies in Donbas by RF laws

Bishop Savva (Tutunov). Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

The Russian authorities have registered the Lugansk, Donetsk, and Gorlovka eparchies of the UOC in accordance with Russian legislation, reports Bishop Savva (Tutunov), the vicar of the Moscow Patriarch.

According to him, since these eparchies operate "on the territory of Russia," they "must be legally formalized as required by Russian legislation".

The bishop also stated that communication between the eparchies in the territories not controlled by Ukraine and “the church Kyiv is obviously difficult, so they address all the questions they used to ask the Metropolitan of Kyiv to the Patriarch”.

When asked whether the Holy Synod of the ROC has considered the situation of the Lugansk, Donetsk, and Gorlovka eparchies, the bishop said that "there have been no Synod meetings yet".

Earlier, the “DNR leader" Denis Pushilin stated that the clergy of the two eparchies of the UOC, Donetsk and Mariupol, as well as Gorlovka and Slaviansk, expressed their desire to join the Russian Orthodox Church.

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