Eight rectors of the churches of the Sosnytsia Deanery of the Chernihiv Diocese appealed to the Primate of the UOC-MP, Onufriy, with a request to break all relations with the Russian Orthodox Church.
The text of the appeal, dated October 2, 2024, was published on Facebook by journalist Vasyl Chepurnyi.
The priests of the UOC-MP believe that it is time to break off relations with the Church “that supports and blesses the war and the murder of Ukrainians.”
“We strongly declare that from now on, we do not consider the Russian Orthodox Church a friendly and fraternal Church, and we do not wish to be part of the same Local Church. We want to be a Church truly independent from the religious center in Moscow,” the document reads.
The clergymen also ask Onufriy to publicly declare the withdrawal of the UOC-MP from the Russian Orthodox Church and to assess those priests and bishops of the UOC-MP assisting the invaders in the occupied territories.