On December 15, on the second anniversary of the establishment of the OCU, the Council of Bishops was held in Kyiv, chaired by Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and all Ukraine.
The hierarchs of the OCU heard and discussed the results of joint work in 2020, in particular the work of the Primate of the Local Church and her Holy Synod.
At the Council, Metropolitan Epifaniy delivered a report. He has referred to the fact that to date the OCU bis one of the largest local Orthodox Churches, which is confirmed by statistical data.
"As of today, the local Ukrainian Orthodox Church consists of 44 churches, which in Ukraine embrace over 7 thousand parishes, about 80 men's and women's monasteries. We have 9 higher spiritual educational institutions with 1,050 students, as well as cooperate with the Department of Cultural Studies, Religious Studies and Theology of Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University. More than 4.5 thousand clergymen, including 60 bishops, perform their ministry in our church, including 47 in charge of the dioceses. Sociological studies show that according to various estimates, from 65 to more than 75% of those surveyed confess Orthodox faith in Ukraine. Most of those who have determined their confessional and jurisdictional affiliation declare their connection with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine," Metropolitan Epifaniys said.
The head of the OCU spoke about the development of the church structure. He mentioned the problematic process of registering the new OCU communities due to the pandemic, as well as subjective obstacles in registration processes, especially when it comes to changing jurisdiction. The head of the OCU did not ignore the fact that for more than a year and a half, the implementation of Ukrainian legislation has been blocked in part, which stipulates the need to change the name of religious organizations with a headquarter in the aggressor country.
"We have raised the above issues and will continue to raise them during meetings with representatives of the state, insisting on compliance with the requirements of the law and eliminating subjective factors from the registration process," the head of the OCU stressed.