Metropolitan Anthony Pakanych, who manages the affairs of the UOC-MP, believes that the past years were years of trials for them, but this did not prevent the Church from growing quantitatively and building new churches.
This is stated in the analysis of the current situation in the UOC-MP, which the business manager prepared on the eve of the celebration of the seventh anniversary of the enthronement of Metropolitan Onufriy.
"In particular, 466 new parishes have appeared (in 2014 there were 11,908 of them, and at the moment – already 12,374) and 30 new monasteries (in 2014 – 228, today – 258). In addition, the number of clergymen has increased from 11,970 to 12,456.
It is significant that the level of interest in studying in spiritual institutions of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church remains consistently high.
So, this year only 224 applicants were enrolled in the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary," the analysis says.
Despite the above achievements, Metropolitan Anthony continues to complain about "persecution" and "oppression". This applies in particular to cases when the community leaves the Moscow Patriarchate and passes to the OCU together with the church.
The UOC-MP affairs manager also said that only his denomination is "the only force that really unites the whole of Ukraine."