Expert Comments on Actions of Synod of UOC-MP

Volodymyr Fesenko, the director of the Penta Center for Applied Political Studies, candidate of Philosophical Sciences, commented on the resonant rotations carried out by the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on 26 January and 21 February without the participation of the head of the UOC who is in hospital.

"Such struggle for power in the church was conducted for the last time in 1990s. When the leader gets weak, the struggle for power begins in the environment. In the recent years, the following different groups struggled against each other in the UOC: those who support more autonomy for the UOC favored by Metropolitan Volodymyr and those who were against the autonomist tendencies. Volodymyr will hold back these contradictions while he is alive. As for the prospects, the positions of the 'pro-Russian part' are stronger. The majority in the Synod is theirs. They are supported by Kirill and the country’s leadership. But, in view of the specificity of the relations between Ukraine and Russia, the level of autonomy of the UOC suits the national interests," said the expert to the correspondent of the newspaper Today, reported Religion in Ukraine.