Dumenko addresses those “who depend on the Russian Patriarchate's position”

Serhii Dumenko. Photo: OCU

On February 3, 2026, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine published an “Address of the Holy Synod to Orthodox believers, clergy, and hierarchs in Ukraine who depend on the position of the Russian Patriarchate,” signed by Epifaniy (Dumenko). The text does not specify what this “dependence” implies.

The address states that during the primacy of Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, there were commissions “between authorized representatives of the divided parts of Ukrainian Orthodoxy,” but later, “Moscow stood in the way of achieving church unity and hindered further dialogue.”

“Unfortunately, since 2014, after the repose of Metropolitan Volodymyr, all our numerous attempts to renew our dialogue with the official leaders on your side have not been heard or accepted,” Epifaniy said, without providing any examples of such attempts.

He also asserted that the OCU has not received from the UOC “even a formal reply” to proposals for dialogue.

Epifaniy “once again called” for “constructive dialogue,” adding that “the path chosen until now of continued conscious rejection of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and ignoring dialogue with it contradicts the Tomos and canonical order; it cannot bring good to the Church.”

Whether fraudulent re-registrations and forceful seizures of UOC churches are elements of such “constructive dialogue,” the OCU head did not specify.

Epifaniy also announced the creation of a dialogue commission as a “public testimony of our constructive position.”

“We call on the other side to act likewise – following the example of the decisions that existed in the days of the blessed memory of Metropolitan Volodymyr – to create a similar empowered commission and to engage in dialogue without putting forward any preconditions,” Serhii Petrovych wrote.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Epifaniy sees no sense in unifying with the UOC, because the OCU “does not need collaborators in its ranks who hate everything Ukrainian.”

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