Head of Phanar demands Dumenko explain forceful seizures of UOC churches

Epifaniy Dumenko and Patriarch Bartholomew. Photo: fosfanariou.gr

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople demanded that Epiphanius Dumenko explain the forceful seizures of UOC churches. The UOJ (Union of Orthodox Journalists) learned this from its own sources.

Our source reported that during Epifaniy Dumenko's last visit to Phanar on August 12-13, Patriarch Bartholomew demanded that the head of the OCU explain how the process of "joining" UOC parishes to his structure was coming along.

Dumenko responded that the situation was somewhat worse than expected, but the dynamics were positive.

Then Patriarch Bartholomew asked Dumenko to inform him about the scale of violent confrontations between communities during the "transitions" from the UOC to the OCU.

Epifaniy replied that if such incidents occur, they are isolated cases and almost always "due to" representatives of the UOC who do not want to hand over churches to the "legal" owners represented by OCU supporters.

After this, Patriarch Bartholomew asked Dumenko directly: "How do you explain the seizures of the cathedrals in Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, and Khmelnytskyi?" The head of the OCU could not provide an answer to this question.

Additionally, during a meal organized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the head of the Phanar, addressing Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, reminded him that the Patriarch of Constantinople is still alive and it is he, not anyone else, who leads the Church.

These words were spoken in the context of information regarding some decisions about Ukraine made by Metropolitan Emmanuel without the approval of Patriarch Bartholomew.

Furthermore, our source claims that the head of the Phanar was not familiar with the scale of religious confrontation in Ukraine until recently, particularly the scale of church raids.

For a long time, he was told that all conflicts were solely "Moscow propaganda" and that there were no persecutions of the Church and believers in Ukraine.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that a Ukrainian delegation informed the head of Phanar that there were no closed churches in the country.

On March 28, 2023, several hundred aggressive radicals who came to the UOC cathedral in Ivano-Frankivsk used tear gas against the faithful.

On April 2, 2023, OCU raiders seized the UOC cathedral in Khmelnytskyi.

On April 6, 2023, the authorities in Lviv used an excavator to demolish the UOC church dedicated to St. Vladimir the Equal-to-the-Apostles.