Dumenko tells why UOC dioceses and monasteries are not transferred to OCU

Epiphany Dumenko, Simeon (Shostatsky) and Alexander (Drabinko).

On December 15, 2020, Epiphany Dumenko, during a speech at the “bishops' council” of the OCU, explained why the dioceses and monasteries of the UOC are not transferred to the OCU.

The head of the OCU, Epiphany Dumenko, said that "if the change of jurisdiction by religious communities, although difficult, is still possible thanks to procedures determined by law, then such a change for diocesan administrations or monasteries within the framework of the current legislation is practically impossible due to a number of legal obstacles."

This fact, according to Dumenko, “is one of the main answers to the question – why new bishops from the hierarchy of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine haven’t joined the OCU over this time.”

He also referred to the "experience" of the former Metropolitan Simeon of the UOC of Vinnytsia and Bar, who "knows from his own experience what a difficult and thorny path it is, and the diocese he heads is still exposed to special pressure from the supporters of the Moscow Patriarchate."

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that, according to Dumenko, the communities of the UOC do not pass to the OCU, because new churches are built for them.

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