UOC KP will live without canonical recognition, – historian-nationalist

Arsen Zinchenko is a Ukrainian historian-nationalist who leads the All-Ukrainian Society named after Metropolitan Vasiliy Lipkovsky (ideologist of the UAOC), expressed his opinion in the interview with ”Obozrevatel” that Constantinople had once sold Ukrainian Church to Moscow. Therefore, the Local Ukrainian Church does not need a ”a reference on autocephaly” from Constantinople.

"Ukraine has already separated from Moscow," Zinchenko said. “The Kyiv Patriarchate is a local church. We do not need new confessions. We do not need a "canonical reference". The Patriarch of Constantinople has always played political games. This is a great church policy, which has a very distant relationship to Christianity. It's looking back at what Moscow will say, what Turkey will say and so on."

At the same time, the historian noted it would still be nice if the "local church" in Ukraine were recognized in the world.

"The Church of Christ is when people gather and pray in the name of Christ, commemorate, confess, try to purify themselves from sin, honor the Gospel. It's enough. Although, of course, it would be good if there was an association with other Churches in the format of a single church," Zinchenko said.