Expert: Moscow wishes to organize schism in UGCC through Dognal Group
In a special commentary for RISU, expert Hlib Kovalenko commented on an interview of Kirill Frolov with the publication Donetsk Kriazh. The expert calls statements of Frolov symptomatic, especially his ideas about the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), which, in view of the closeness of Frolov to Patriarch Kirill, can be considered that same as those of the Moscow Patriarchate. In fact, Kovalenko states that Frolov reveals the details of the plan of action against the UGCC.
According to the expert, it is obvious from the statements of Frolov, who is a worker of the Institute of CIS Countries, that "Moscow wishes to organize a schism in the UGCC with the help of the Dognal Group.
"The organizer of the schism was an agent of the Czech Communist secret services. It would not be strange if today he was an agent of another secret service of another state, which once headed the 'socialist bloc.' Sometimes, the leadership of the Dognal Group did not even have time to translate its addresses from Russian into Ukrainian," said Kovalenko.
He noted that "with his words, Frolov rather reveals the wish of the ROC for the sectarian movement of Dognal to be turned into a schism." The expert advised Frolov to learn to distinguish between the notions "schism" and "sect."
"One can only hope that the confessions of Frolov will substantially influence the way Dognal adherents are treated in Ukraine and in the UGCC in particular," said Kovalenko.
Background Information
Ex-monks Antonin Illia Dognal, Richard-Methodii Shpirzhik, and Samuil R. Oberhauser earlier belonged to the Czech Delegature of Basilian fathers liquidated in 2004. The fourth father, Vasyl Markian Hitiuk, is Ukrainian. They conduct their activity in the village of Pidhirtsi in the Lviv region.
The Collegial Tribunal of the Sokal-Zhovkva Eparchy passed a sentence that the mentioned priests and Fr. Robert Oberhauser should be excommunicated. In 2009, the Apostolic Signatura passed a sentence to exclude the mentioned monks from the Basilian Order. The sentence was executed on the basis of the decisions of the protoarchimandrite and the council of the order.
