Media report that the UOC-MP has transferred the assets of Crimean dioceses to the balance of the Russian Orthodox Church. UOC denies it.

On Sunday the Ukrainian 1 + 1 TV Channel reported that it possessed the documents proving that the UOC (MP) had legally recognized the annexed Crimea aspart of the Russian Federation, having transferred all assets of the Crimean dioceses to the balance of the Russian Orthodox Church.

After the occupation of Crimeaby Russian troops, much property of the UOC (MP) remained in the peninsula.

“The process of covert legal transfer of the property of the Crimean dioceses to the Russian Church has begun,” states theemployee ofReligious Studies Department of the Institute of Philosophy Olexandr Sahan.

In June 2014, and later in December of the same year the Synod amended statutes of the Crimean dioceses.

“De jure and de facto, according to the changes made to the statutes, actually it is written there that the Dioceses of Simferopol and Crimea are located in the Republic of Crimea, which is the subject of the Russian Federation. Thus, the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation was actually recognized, which, in my opinion, is treason. In fact, there was a covert transfer of the two dioceses to the Russian Church, says Sahan.

“This transfer should be agreed on with the state and the church because the state once has given a lot of land plots for use to church parishes and monasteries,” he says.

The UOC-MP categorically denies this information. According to the official commentary of the Legal Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, this information is not true, as any decision to change the jurisdiction and transfer the property of the dioceses of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, located in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, have never been adopted by the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The dioceses located in Crimea remain part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and shall report directly to the Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine.

The documents showing that the UOC (MP) legally recognized the annexed Crimea as part of Russia by transferring all assets of the Crimean dioceses to the Russian Orthodox Church were made public. It was on these documents that TSN.Tyzhden based its story of March 8.

It refers to the Dioceses of Simferopol and Feodosia, UOC (MP). Journal 93 of the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as of December 23, 2014 blesses the adoption of a new revision of the Statuteof one of these dioceses –Feodosia Diocese; the adoption of a new version of the Statute of Simferopol diocese was blessed at a meeting of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) chaired by Locum Tenens Metropolitan Onufriy on June 19, 2014 (the registration of new revisions of the Statutes of Kyiv, Sumy, Lviv and Konotop dioceses of the UOC was also blessed, according to Journal 8). However, the UOC (MP) has not officially reported anywhere what kind of changes are to be made to these statutes.