Archbishop Yevstratiy (Zorya): UOC (MP) to collapse like Party of Regions after Yanukovych’s escape

Archbishop Yevstratiy (Zorya) of Chernihiv and Nizhyn of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate believes that the Unification Council will become a “watershed moment” on December 15, after which at least half of the parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate will switch to a new Church. And the rest will lose their former influence.

He said this in an interview with the BBC, according to LB.ua.

“When a new Church is created, for them it will be an argument: if we join it, then we will really get something more and better than it is now. And vice versa: if we do not join, our situation will deteriorate, because if we do not go and lead this process, the parishes will leave us, we will remain archbishops in our departments, but only 100 or 50 of 300 will remain,” said Archbishop Yevstratiy.

He has predicted the fate of the Party of Regions to those who will remain in the Russian Orthodox Church.

“The Russian Church in Ukraine will continue to exist in the same way as pro-Russian political forces will, because Ukraine is a democratic state. But while the Party of Regions under Yanukovych had certain impact on society, the entity that once was the Party of Regions has a completely different influence now. But does it exist? Yes, it does. It is engaged in the political activities. I think that in the future the same will happen to the Russian Church,” he said.

When asked how many parishes will be transferred to a new Church, the archbishop replied: “It all depends on how this process will evolve. In the near future, I think half of them. Maybe more. In general, I predict that about two thirds of parishes will transfer.”

As reported, on December 15, the Unification Council is to take place at St Sophia Cathedral of Kyiv, where the primate of the new local Ukrainian Church will be chosen. He will receive the Tomos of autocephaly from the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.