Over 100 parishes join Orthodox Church of Ukraine – Epiphanius

29.01.2019 15:36

Ukrinform

More than a hundred parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate have already joined the newly formed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).

OCU Primate, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Epiphanius told this to reporters before the forum with the participation of President Petro Poroshenko at the International Exhibition Center in Kyiv on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent said.

"It's already more than a hundred, and we hear every day that there are two or three transfers in a certain region. We will finalize legalization in the coming days, that is, a governing body – the Kyiv metropolis - will already be registered. Accordingly, other dioceses will make changes to their statute, and the parishes that are now moving from the Russian Orthodox Church to the single local Orthodox Church of Ukraine will already be joining a new entity," Metropolitan Epiphanius said.

At the same time, he noted that the Russian Orthodox Church is creating certain obstacles to the process of transition of religious communities and the process of recognition of autocephaly by other Orthodox churches.

"Of course, there is opposition from the Russian Orthodox Church because their task is to counteract, to make sure that churches do not recognize the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. But we believe that the wisdom of other Orthodox hierarchs will lead to the fact that we will receive recognition from other churches," Epiphanius said.

He said that he is now actively working to ensure that other local churches recognize the autocephalous status of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. An active dialogue is now underway in this regard, he said.

As reported, Metropolitan of Pereyaslav and Bila Tserkva Epiphanius was elected the primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine at a unification council on December 15, 2018. On January 6, he received a tomos (decree) of autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

The enthronement ceremony for the primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Epiphanius, will be held at St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv on February 3.