Well-known OCU cleric quits the structure in protest against Dumenko’s rule

Yasenets and Dumenko. Photo: Yasynets’ Facebook

OCU cleric Yaroslav Yasenets (also known as Kulik) published on Facebook a statement addressed to Epifaniy Dumenko declaring his withdrawal from the OCU.

“Due to categorical disagreement with your course, methods of church governance, and the openly biased, unjust, and discourteous attitude toward me personally, both from you and your entourage, I, Priest Yaroslav, withdraw from the subordination of the hierarchy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. I do not consider any further prohibitions, sanctions, or decisions regarding me to be valid,” Yasynets wrote in his statement addressed to Dumenko.

He also promised to release a video “with a detailed breakdown of the situation within the OCU on all fronts and proof of the hopelessness of this project.”

In the comments under his post, Yasenets stated that he was joining Filaret.

Yasenets is known for his nationalist views, which are considered radical even within the OCU. In particular, he claimed that Bandera fulfilled a divine mission on earth and asserted that the Third Reich was “saving the world from evil.”

At the same time, Yasenets condemned the demolition of the UOC’s Church of the Tithes and stated that the banning of the UOC would benefit “the devil and the atheists.”

Read also