Yelensky: UOC does not need to appeal to Moscow for breaking with it
Yelensky. Photo: State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience
The head of DESS, Viktor Yelensky, assured in an interview with "Ukrainian Radio" that for the required break with Moscow, the Kyiv Metropolis does not need to appeal to the Moscow Patriarchate. According to him, this is a myth.
"Another myth is that the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience requires the Kyiv Metropolis to enter into relations with the Moscow Patriarchate and humbly ask the Moscow patriarch to release them. This is not true," said Yelensky.
According to him, to comply with the DESS directive, the Metropolis needs to "exit" the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and "provide evidence" of the withdrawal.
He did not explain what such evidence should be and why he does not consider official letters from the Primate of the UOC to the State Ethnopolitics Service as sufficient.
As reported, earlier Yelensky stated that in order for the authorities not to consider a particular structure of the UOC as part of the ROC, it must send a letter to Moscow about exiting the ROC.
Read also
Common Easter date with Orthodox still a long way off – Vatican rep
The Vatican’s ambassador to Ukraine said that dialogue on synchronizing the calendar is ongoing, but no tangible progress has been made.
Persecuted UOC сommunity сelebrates its patronal feast in Mali Dorohostai
In the Rivne Eparchy, the persecuted community of the Church of St. Spyridon of Trimythous marked its patronal feast.
Catholic monastery in Germany to open escape room for visitors
The Norbertines of Roggenburg have devised a way to attract visitors as the abbey prepares to celebrate its 900th anniversary.
Cherkasy court extends preventive measure against Metropolitan Theodosiy
The judge left unchanged the preventive measure imposed on the UOC hierarch in four criminal cases.
UOC parish in Lisbon celebrates 5th anniversary of its founding
The community of the Church of St. Spyridon of Trimythous in Lisbon marked its patronal feast and the fifth anniversary of its founding.
Pope says true Christians can have no enemies
Pope Leo XIV reflects on martyrdom as a “birth into heaven” and on Christmas joy a the choice of "justice even at great cost,” making celebration possible even amid suffering.