Yelensky states that almost 2,000 UOC communities "transferred" to OCU
In Chernivtsi, a believer persuades a UOC priest to voluntarily join the OCU. Photo: UOJ
The head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), Viktor Yelensky, stated that after receiving the Tomos, almost 2,000 parishes of the UOC "transferred" to the OCU. He reported this in an interview with "Radio Culture".
According to Yelensky, this number is significant: "Almost 2,000 parishes transferred to the OCU. This is a lot. This is more than several local Orthodox churches combined." At the same time, the official acknowledged that this constitutes less than 17% of the total number of UOC parishes.
Yelensky explained the relatively low percentage of "transfers" by the fact that "church life never changes rapidly".
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that, according to Yelensky, for the UOC to break with Moscow, it does not need to appeal to the Moscow Patriarchate.
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