Archbishop of UAOC: Main Result of Patriarch Kirill’s Visit is the Internal Problems of the UOC

In the opinion of the Vicar of the Kyivan Eparchy of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) Archbishop of Uman Yoan (Modzalevskyi), the fact that the Moscow Patriarch is in the process of finding new church leaders who in the future can lay claim to the position of the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is obvious. Archbishop Yoan named the internal arguments and problems in the life of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine the main result of the visit of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to Ukraine.

“The regions that were visited by the Holy Patriarch Kirill in his last year’s and this year’s trips are eparchies were the most influential hierarchs in the UOC serve. From this point of view, the trips of the patriarch can be seen as a way to be sure of the authoritativeness and effectiveness of a regional church leader,” declared the archbishop in an interview for Religion in Ukraine.

He also made a presumption that the topic of the successor was discussed during the patriarch’s visit with President Viktor Yanukovych.