The faithful of the UOC are concerned about Metropolitan Onufriy
Zelensky deprived a person born in Ukraine and heading the largest Church in the country of Ukrainian citizenship. But the president's decision is not a blow to Onufriy or the UOC. It is a blow to Ukraine as a democratic state.
The formal basis was the presence of Russian citizenship in the primate of the UOC. Back in 2023, the metropolitan himself admitted that since he had permanent registration in the 80s, being in the brotherhood of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, he eventually received a Russian passport automatically.
Human rights activists say that the issue of citizenship deprivation in Ukraine is a "gray area," as the legislation in this field remains vague. In reality, thousands of Ukrainians have two or more passports. And until 2014, there was nothing subversive about Russian citizenship for a Ukrainian.
In 2020, a bishop of the OCU in Crimea publicly admitted that he obtained a Russian passport to protect church property. This does not bother Zelensky. And he came to power with the support of an oligarch with three passports. Such is selective justice.
Another accusation from the SBU is that the metropolitan allegedly maintains ties with the Moscow Patriarchate and hindered the acquisition of autocephaly from the ROC. But they do not present any evidence or incriminating confirmations of this. We all understand: if there were discovered correspondences, calls, the SBU would not hesitate to make the files public. However, what truly exists are public condemnations by Onufriy of the aggression of the Russian Federation and the actions of the ROC patriarch. Both on the first day of the full-scale invasion and later.
As for the accusation of hindering the acquisition of autocephaly from the ROC, this is an exclusively canonical issue. The state, if it is truly secular, has no right to interfere in such church processes.
Moreover, autocephaly obtained from the ROC would be of little use, as the global Orthodoxy recognizes only those autocephalies granted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Thus, the SBU has long been aware of the existence of Russian citizenship in Met. Onufriy. There is no evidence of ties with Moscow. Why does Zelensky suddenly want to deprive him of citizenship now? It is obvious that the decision is purely populist. There is no progress on the front line, and no success on the diplomatic field either. So, they need to give the people at least some victory. For example, on the "spiritual front." But there is neither spirituality, nor victory, nor democracy in this act.
