UOC Primate discusses religious situation with DESS head
Head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, Viktor Yelensky. Photo: dw.com
On July 25, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry met with the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), Viktor Yelensky, reports the DESS website.
During the meeting, "the religious situation in the country, issues of church life in the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war, purposeful terrorist attacks by Russian aggressors against civil infrastructure and the civilian population" were discussed.
Yelensky's position on the religious issue in Ukraine was also noted. According to him, the complete and unconditional break of the UOC with the ROC is not only a demand of the state and society but also increasingly of the believers and clergy of the UOC.
As reported, on July 7, 2023, a meeting took place between representatives of the UOC and the head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics, Viktor Yelensky. The meeting, held with the blessing of His Beatitude Onuphry, was attended by Metropolitan Clement, Archbishop Sylvester, and the Lavra's lawyer, Archpriest Nikita Chekman.
Read also
DESS: The number of communities joining OCU in 2024 is half of last year’s
Over a year, 232 communities of the UOC changed their jurisdiction.
Scale of internal damage to UOC cathedral in Zaporizhzhia shown online
The video allows viewers to assess the damage endured by the main Orthodox church of the UOC in Zaporizhzhia.
Ex-MP UOC protodeacon Novinsky declared suspicion of high treason
The former MP is accused of "ensuring that a significant part of Ukrainian society, who are believers of the UOC, remain under the direct influence of the leader of the ROC".
St Andrew’s icon survives under the rubble of UOC cathedral in Zaporizhzhia
The icon was painted by nuns of the St Nicholas Monastery in Patras (Greece) and consecrated on the relics of St Andrew the Apostle.
RF missile strike destroys St Andrew's Cathedral of UOC in Zaporizhzhia
The fragments damaged the roof of the building, dome, ceilings, cut windows and disfigured classrooms.
Media shows conditions in which persecuted communities of Volyn have to pray
After their churches were seized, UOC faithful are compelled to pray in poorly equipped facilities.