Metropolitan of Berlin: The OCU is headed by a layman
The head of the ROCOR Diocese in Germany, Metropolitan Mark, said that the head of the OCU has neither a priestly nor an episcopal ordination.
In an interview with UOJ Germany, Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany commented on the church situation in Ukraine. According to him, the intervention of the Church of Constantinople ended with it granting a Tomos of autocephaly to a schismatic structure.
Metropolitan Mark drew particular attention to the fact that a layman was placed at the head of this formation – a person “who has neither priestly nor episcopal ordination.”
“Today it is impossible to say how this schism can be overcome. But the truth will prevail in the end,” the hierarch emphasized. Answering a question about how the faithful of the UOC should defend their faith, Metropolitan Mark stressed that they should rely on the examples of the saints.
“St. Gregory the Theologian, in his time, was the only Orthodox bishop in Constantinople. And he had there only one small church. All the other church buildings were in the hands of heretics. His legitimacy was questioned, he was slandered, and many persecuted him, including those in power,” Metropolitan Mark recalled. “By firm and unequivocal safeguarding of the true faith he prevailed; his theology won out and has defined Orthodoxy for centuries. Thus, in the end, the truth was established.”
“Therefore, no one should lose heart or abandon hope. God preserves His children, even when the struggle at the moment seems unequal, when heretics and schismatics are in the majority. Truth already contains victory within itself, even if outwardly it is not visible,” the hierarch stressed.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to the Primate of the Polish Church, Metropolitan Sawa, Dumenko is a layman. “This young secular man suffered great harm when he was appointed metropolitan,” the Primate noted. “In the light of canon law, he is not a clergyman. He is not ordained in the canonical Church.”
