The Synod in Moscow has twice stressed in its decisions that the UOC-MP cannot do anything without Moscow's approval, despite its alleged independence and self-government.
Religious scholar Yuriy Chornomorets wrote about this on his Facebook page, commenting on the decision of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, according to Relygiyna Pravda.
"The Synod in Moscow in its decisions twice stressed that the UOC (MP – Ed.) could do nothing without Moscow's approval. The new times, the new style, where instructions to the "Primate of self-governing Church" sound far and wide. Metropolitan Onufriy is already being urged on like a boy, and soon it will boil down to reprimands. At the same time, the UOC-MP is supposedly independent and self-governing," the religious scholar notes.
The Synod of the Russian Orthodox church was held remotely on December 29.
Patriarch Kirill passed through the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church the decision to curtail the rights of the UOC-MP, which it cited as an argument for its "independence".
In particular, the UOC-MP was obliged to approve all liturgical texts in honor of locally venerated saints only in Moscow. Metropolitan Onufriy was also reminded that his Church must agree on providing certificates of dismissal to its clergy within the "canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church".