Yelensky reveals how many UOC churches have “joined” OCU
Victor Yelensky. Photo: Radio Svoboda
Viktor Yelensky, Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, told Radio Svoboda about the number of religious communities that have “transitioned” from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).
According to him, since the Tomos was granted in 2019, over 1,900 communities have been transferred to the OCU. At the same time, Yelensky noted that more than 10,000 UOC communities remain in Ukraine today, around 8,000 of which are located in territories controlled by the Ukrainian government.
According to the official, the highest number of communities that “joined” the OCU is in the Volyn, Kyiv, and Khmelnytskyi regions. However, he also pointed out that the situation with transitions is “difficult” in the Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Donetsk, and Kherson regions.
“But that’s understandable. Where active hostilities are taking place, there’s no time for transitions,” Yelensky commented.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that Yelensky avoided answering a question regarding the legality of the “transfer” of the UOC cathedral in Chernivtsi.
Read also
U.S. bishops call for Church unity on Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy
The Assembly of Bishops of the USA has issued an encyclical for the Triumph of Orthodoxy on Church unity, veneration of icons, and support for pan-Orthodox ministry.
OCU organizes harassment of businessman for aiding UOC
Hryshchuk called for boycotting the business of the entrepreneur who built a UOC church in the Rivne region.
Head of Lavra Reserve: I believe UOC monks will move to the OCU
Ostapenko said there are 140 UOC monks and novices on the territory of the Lower Lavra.
"Shield of Judah": Biblical name given to operations against Iran
A joint Israeli–US military operation against Iran has received a code name referencing the biblical forefather of the Jewish royal line.
In Syria, Islamic militants behead statues of Christ and Virgin Mary
Vandals beheaded statues of the Lord and the Mother of God at the entrance to the "Cave of the Virgin Mary" in the village of Al-Basiya near the coastal city of Banias in Syria.
Icon with particle of Gabriel Urgebadze's relics to be brought to Uzhhorod from Georgia
The holy icon, painted in Georgia, will be brought to the Holy Trinity Church of the Mukachevo Eparchy of the UOC.