DECR MP: The facts say the OCU is an unsuccessful political project

Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, secretary for inter-Orthodox relations of the DECR ROC. Photo: visualrian.ru

The facts related to the creation of the OCU indicate that the new structure is a political project, an unsuccessful political project, said Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, secretary for inter-Orthodox relations of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, at an online conference dedicated to the Day of the Baptism of Rus’ in the press centre "Russia Today".

The founders of the OCU assumed that there would be a massive transfer of parishes from the UOC to the OCU, especially in the west of the country, said the representative of the DECR MP. And every effort was made to facilitate these transitions.

But the mass character did not work out, and those "transitions" that took place were accompanied by various violations.

“As soon as the political power changed, the transitions stopped altogether,” the priest emphasized. “And I must say that even where, with the help of local authorities, churches were seized with the help of dubious manipulations, dubious "referendums", without the knowledge of the parishioners themselves and the rectors of these churches, the communities did not disappear. They survived. In very many cases, these communities have already built new temples and serve in these temples. These churches are full of people, and those churches that were seized are either empty or completely closed because there is no one to go there or there is no one to serve there."

“These facts indicate that the OCU is a political project and an unsuccessful political project,” resumed Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk.

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