Deception and division, or how the OCU is actually fighting for unity

After 5 years, the OCU is still as divided into ex-Filaret followers and members of the UAOC. Photo: UOJ

A few days ago, the "bishop" of Rivne and Sarny, Gavriil Kryzyna, complained on his Facebook before the anniversary of the "Unification Council" that there is still no unity in the OCU, and that clerics of the ex-UOC-KP there oppress clerics of the ex-UAOC.

Kryzyna said that the "dean" Danylo Kovtash, who reports to the "archbishop" of Rivne and Ostroh I. Protsik, refused to "concelebrate" with Kryzyna himself and forbade other "priests" to do so.

Another former "bishop" of the UAOC, Volodymyr Shlapak, supported Kryzyna in his comments, stating that he has the same situation in the Zhytomyr region.

OCU "priest" Mykola Lagodich wrote that this situation is not only in Polissya. And, in his opinion, it will be like this "as long as there are three bishops of the OCU in one city". The "priest" Serhiy Yarovyi stated that for 5 years the unity in the OCU has not appeared. So what is going on in the Dumenko structure?

Tomos and unity

The head of the Phanar, Patriarch Bartholomew, keeps emphasising that the granting of the Tomos to Ukrainian schismatics had primarily one goal – to overcome the schism in Ukraine and unite the "three branches" of Ukrainian Orthodoxy into one.

In August 2021, he stated that "the division of the body of the Orthodox Church into three separate institutions in Ukraine was a deep wound to the communion of the entire fullness of the Orthodox Church." According to him, "the granting of autocephaly will ultimately help to resolve the issue of unity."

These words were said almost three years after the so-called Unification Council of the OCU took place on 15 December 2018. That is, by 2021, the problem of "unity" had not been solved, even though Dumenko assured Patriarch Bartholomew to the contrary.

Thus, in 2019, speaking on the occasion of the anniversary of the "Unification Council" of the OCU, Epifaniy said, "On 15 December, we all together could witness the fact of the unity of the three branches of Ukrainian Orthodoxy."

That is, according to Dumenko, there is unity. Probably, this is the reason why representatives of the OCU of almost all levels constantly say that their "Church is open to all", and Serhiy Dumenko himself assures that sooner or later, whether they want it or not, all Ukrainians will become members of his structure.

From all these loud statements, one can conclude that the unity of the “three branches” of Ukrainian Orthodoxy is a very important task for the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the main argument to justify the fact that the Phanar (Constantinople) encroached on the canonical territory of another Church.

Could Dumenko's charges have fulfilled this task over the past 5 (five!) years? No, of course not. They both themselves and representatives of other Churches who are closely following the situation in Ukraine say so.

OCU and "unity"

The problem of relations between the former representatives of the UOC-KP and UAOC, described at the beginning of the article, is far from new and do not arise today.

In fact, the division within the OCU has existed since the first day of its creation. Moreover, even before the "Unification Council", it was clear that Filaret followers (UOC-KP) treated the autocephalists (UAOC) very disdainfully, as they considered them less "gracious" than themselves.

Back in 2018, the "bishop" of the UAOC, Afanasiy Shkurupiy, took offence at the press secretary of the UOC-KP, Yustratiy Zoria, who told journalists about consultations "on the Unification Council": "Where, when and with whom do these "consultations" take place? In safe houses and over a shot of whiskey? Or in the back rooms of the circus? And when is the appearance on the arena?!".

Denisenko's and Malevich's pupils appeared on the stage quite quickly. For example, the same Shkurupiy in April 2021 (already after the "unification" and the Tomos) accused the "archbishop" of the OCU, Mitrofan Butynsky, of raiding the parishes of the Kharkiv district. "These are the kind of things we have here. It is painful and offensive that this is where the development of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine begins. Well, we got what we fought for!" wrote then "hierarch" Athanasiy of the OCU.

A little later Shkurupiy thanked his "priests" for the fact that they remained faithful to "his omophorion" and did not go to a competitor. And when one reads such words, one gets the impression that it goes about completely different structures, and not about relations within one.

In this regard, Shkurupiy’s story is not an exception but rather the rule.

Despite loud statements about unity and canonicality, the OCU has not resolved the issue of eparchial leadership. Today, in almost every eparchy of Dumenko's structure, there are at least two "bishops," and in some cases, three. For example, the title "Ternopil" belongs to three "hierarchs" at once – Nestor Pysyk (of Ternopil and Kremenets), Tikhon Petraniuk (of Ternopil and Buchach), and Pavlo Kravchuk (of Ternopil and Terebovlia).

The same situation is in Chernivtsi and Vinnytsia, where Dumenko’s followers also have three "bishops". Moreover, according to their own words, there are cases where three eparchies of the OCU operate in one village!

From the point of view of canonical ecclesiastical law, this is an absolute anomaly, unparalleled in any other Church. This is perfectly understood within the OCU. In Chernivtsi, representatives of one OCU "eparchy" proposed to representatives of the other two "eparchies" to unite for "consolidation".

Furthermore, during one of the interviews on "Radio Liberty," Dumenko was asked if the fact that three "bishops" of the OCU operate in Vinnytsia contradicts the canons of the Ecumenical Councils. Serhiy Dumenko replied that "after the unification, it was decided that everyone would remain with what they came", but this process "will be normalized over time". As to whether the OCU is currently violating the canons of the Orthodox Church, Serhiy Dumenko did not answer. However, the fact remains that the process of "unification" has not been normalised to this day. What does this mean? It means that the Tomos did not fulfil its purpose and failed to unite the Orthodox of Ukraine. Moreover, even the schismatics themselves have not achieved unity.

Tomos has not brought unity to Orthodox believers of Ukraine

This fact is so obvious that hierarchs of other Local Churches are speaking out about it. According to Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus of the Greek Church, instead of peace and unity, the Tomos triggered "unprecedented persecution of the canonical Orthodox Church under the omophorion of Metropolitan Onuphry".

He is sure that the Tomos did not help even those who supported it in Ukraine, because "people who persecute, rob, resort to violence are not on the path of salvation, but on the path of perdition."

The same opinion is held by the Primate of the Albanian Orthodox Church, who stated back in 2020, "The initiatives in Ukraine after two years have not had the desired healing effect."

"For millions of Ukrainian Orthodox Christians, neither peace nor unity has been achieved," according to Archbishop Anastasios.

The Synod of the Albanian Church also points to the lack of unity among the Ukrainian Orthodox, which in the context of comparing its Tomos with that of the OCU stated: "The main thing, however, is that in Albania (after the granting of the Tomos – Ed.) there is peace and unity, in contrast to what is happening in Ukraine with unfavourable consequences for the whole Orthodox Church."

Outcomes

The only evident conclusion from all of this is that the OCU is incapable of unity. The 'unifying' rhetoric of the leadership of this structure is just a facade that conceals deep enmity even within the Dumenko structure itself. But can this be called unexpected? Can there be unity in Christ where hatred and aggression thrive?

An angle grinder can’t bring up a Christian, and calls for unity to its sound appear extremely cynical. Until the OCU realises that the church schism is not overcome by "mergers and consolidation" but only through repentance and a change of mind, the situation will only get worse.

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