Dumenko is concerned about the Romanian Church in its struggle with the Russian Orthodox Church in Moldova
Dumenko and Prokopchuk. Photo: pomisna.info
On July 23, 2025, the head of the OCU, Epiphanius Dumenko, met in his residence with the extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of Ukraine to Romania, Ihor Prokopchuk.
During the meeting, the parties discussed issues related to "strengthening interstate and interchurch relations, as well as the religious situation in Ukraine and Romania."
Also, as reported by the OCU press service, Dumenko and Prokopchuk did not limit their discussion to the religious situation only in Romania but also talked about neighboring Moldova.
In particular, they discussed "the long-standing destructive influence of the structures of the Moscow Patriarchate on the religious life in various countries, one of which is Moldova, where the Russian organization hinders the establishment of the legitimate jurisdiction of the Romanian Orthodox Church."
It is unknown whether Dumenko mentioned that the Ukrainian authorities banned the registration of the Romanian Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
At the same time, according to the OCU press service, Dumenko spoke about the actions and decisions of the OCU "aimed at further establishing dialogue with the Romanian Patriarchate based on the Tomos of autocephaly."
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the ambassador of Ukraine to Romania, Ihor Prokopchuk, demanded church recognition of the OCU. In turn, the Romanian Church responded to the ambassador's call.
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