His Beatitude: OCU refuses to engage in dialogue with UOC

Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry. Photo: news.church.ua

His Beatitude Onuphry said that the OCU did not respond to the call of the UOC Council to stop seizures of churches as a necessary condition for the beginning of dialogue. The Primate stated that the seizures had become even more widespread. He said this in his speech at the annual meeting of the clergy of the Kyiv Eparchy, reports the UOC Information and Education Department.

His Beatitude noted the UOC Council names the end of seizures and forced transfers of parishes as one of the conditions for dialogue with representatives of the OCU.

"In the Kyiv Eparchy alone, 41 parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were illegally re-registered without the knowledge of the religious community. Of these, 22 churches have already been seized by representatives of the so-called OCU, and 19 parishes continue to defend their rights in courts, suffering humiliation and violence," Metropolitan Onuphry said.

His Beatitude also said that the UOC had completely disassociated itself from the Moscow Patriarchate.

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