Zoria considers stopping raids of UOC churches as capitulation for OCU

Evstratiy Zoria. Photo: Screenshot of video

The OCU spokesperson, Evstratiy Zoria, provided his interpretation of the conditions set by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) during the Council in Feofania, which would open the possibility for dialogue. He declared that these conditions amount to capitulation. Zoria shared his views on his YouTube channel, seemingly debunking the claim that it is the OCU that refuses dialogue.

"Our doors and hearts are open to all; we wish to build a united local Orthodox Church of Ukraine together as brothers and sisters," stated Zoria, referring to the appeals made by his organization to the UOC leadership. Specifically, he mentioned the latest appeal in which the head of the OCU demanded that Metropolitan Onufriy enter negotiations "without preconditions".

Zoria recalled that the UOC Council in Feofania previously outlined three conditions that could initiate dialogue with the OCU. He offered his interpretation of each, explaining why the OCU would not meet them.

The following conditions were determined by the Council of May 27, 2022:

"According to the document, in order for the dialogue to resume, the OCU is expected to take the following actions:

• stop the seizure of churches and forced transfers of parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church;
• realize that their canonical status, as it is fixed in the "Charter of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine", is in fact non-autocephalous and significantly inferior to the freedoms and opportunities in the
• implementation of church activities, which are provided for by the Charter on the governance of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church;
• resolve the issue of the canonicity of the OCU hierarchy, because it is quite obvious for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, as well as for the majority of Local Orthodox Churches, that in order to recognize the canonicity of the OCU hierarchy, it is necessary to restore the apostolic succession of its bishops."

According to the OCU spokesperson, the first condition essentially asks the OCU to renounce the patriarchal tomos, which he describes as self-condemnation.

When addressing the lack of canonical ordination within the OCU's structure, Zoria emphasized that it is primarily the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) that does not recognize their clergy as priests. He pointed out that for dialogue with the UOC, they demand that the OCU acknowledge what Moscow says about them. Zoria overlooked the fact that most Local Orthodox Churches consider the OCU's "priests and bishops" as laypeople and refuse to concelebrate with them.

The first and main condition, defined by the Feofania Council as the cessation of church seizures, was mentioned by Zoria at the end, where he interpreted it as: "The third condition is that we must acknowledge that no religious community has the right to leave this jurisdiction without the permission of the Moscow Patriarchate's church leadership – to comply with the Tomos and join the OCU family."

"Are these conditions for dialogue or conditions for capitulation? Let everyone decide and answer for themselves," he concluded.

He added at the very end, "No one will retreat from what is defined by the Tomos in favor of the ROC's ultimatum, which is destroying peace worldwide."

As reported by the UOJ, raiders in camouflage seized a UOC church in Pryutivka.

Earlier, Baumaister addressed the OCU, saying that "God's City cannot be seized through raiding or Rada laws".

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