DESS head: UOC needs to sever ties with Russia, not to join another Church
Head of DESS Viktor Yelensky. Photo: Voice of America
Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience stated that the state does not demand from the UOC "any changes to the calendar, liturgical language, joining another church, or proclaiming autocephaly. The only requirement is to sever ties with the Moscow Patriarchate," as reported by the DESS website.
According to Yelensky, if the UOC does so, the religious landscape in the country will change significantly, and dialogue between the UOC and the OCU will become possible.
The head of the DESS also stated that "according to the draft law awaiting a second reading, the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine will be impossible." However, this does not mean a ban on religious beliefs but rather the cessation of activities of religious structures subordinate to the Russian Federation.
As the UOJ reported, draft law 8371 in its new version, recommended by the Rada Committee for adoption in the second reading, contains provisions under which the UOC could be banned based on the statutory documents of structures from the Russian Federation.
Read also
MP demands answers from Rivne authorities over UOC charity event
Bobrovska expressed outrage that city officials allowed the Rivne Eparchy of the UOC to hold a charity festival that raised money for children with cancer.
Phanar backs common Easter date with Catholics and Protestants
Theologians of the Patriarchate of Constantinople have proposed revising calendar practice and bringing the celebration of Easter closer to the Western tradition.
DESS congratulates Ukraine’s Jews on Purim
The State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience addressed Ukraine’s Jewish community on the occasion of Purim.
Patriarch Bartholomew becomes honorary professor of ecology in Greece
The Ionian University of Greece has awarded Patriarch Bartholomew the honorary title of professor in its Department of Environment.
Phanar’s shift to new calendar triggered Orthodox schism – ROCOR hierarch
Metropolitan Mark called Constantinople’s adoption of the Gregorian calendar the main source of divisions in the Orthodox world.
Metropolitan of Berlin: The OCU is headed by a layman
The head of the ROCOR Diocese in Germany, Metropolitan Mark, said that the head of the OCU has neither a priestly nor an episcopal ordination.