DESS expert: “The problem is that Metropolitan Onuphry doesn’t yield to pressure”
His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry. Photo: UOC press service
Andriy Smirnov, an external expert for the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) and a member of the Synodal Commission of the OCU, commented on the revocation of Ukrainian citizenship from His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry, stating that the Primate of the UOC does not give in to pressure. He shared his views in an interview with the publication Glavred.
According to Smirnov, under current Ukrainian legislation, Metropolitan Onuphry has only three months to resolve his legal residency status in Ukraine.
He stated that, “if there is political will, the state may deport Metropolitan Onuphry for violating migration laws and lacking legal grounds to remain in Ukraine.”
However, Smirnov doubts that the authorities will take such a step.
“More likely, sanctions may be imposed against Metropolitan Onuphry as an additional lever of pressure,” he said. “But the problem is that he doesn’t yield to pressure and will not comply with DESS directives or make concessions to the state.”
As previously reported by the UOJ, dozens of videos have been recorded by UOC believers in support of His Beatitude.
Read also
Shell hits UOC church in Kherson, rector’s wife injured
As a result of shelling, a side chapel was destroyed and the church dome was damaged at the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Kherson. There are also injured.
OCU accuses UOC-KP members of “crimes against canonical order”
The leadership of the OCU has asserted its exclusive right to the Kyiv Patriarchate brand and threatened punishment against Nikodym Kobzar and his associates.
Moldovan bishop tells UN of pressure on the Church
Speaking at the UN, Archbishop Markell said the authorities are putting pressure on the Orthodox Church of Moldova and threatening the seizure of churches.
UOC clergy deliver aid to frontline monasteries and parishes
Clergy of the Kyiv Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church delivered aid to frontline monasteries and parishes that provide daily support to refugees and the needy.
Vinnytsia region bans religious processions and pilgrimages until December
Vinnytsia’s Defense Council has imposed strict restrictions on believers ahead of the Easter holidays.
Nicaraguan authorities release 1,200 prisoners for Holy Week
In Nicaragua, more than a thousand inmates were released from prison during Holy Week and sent home under a “family cohabitation” regime, with an appeal to begin a “new life.”