Rep of Moscow Patriarchate Names Condition for Establishing National Church in Ukraine

The unified national Orthodox Church in Ukraine is to be built on the basis of a certain canon, the press secretary of the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), Protopriest Heorhii Kovalenko, said in an exclusive commentary to ForUm. He said that it will be recognized by the national Orthodox churches of the world only on such a condition.

At the same time, the priest stated that there is a national church in Ukraine today. “It is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in communion with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Orthodoxy. And when the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Moscow and Jerusalem come here, they serve services only with Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine,” he said.

In addition, the press secretary of the head of UOC-MP stated that there is a schism in Ukraine. “And there is its leader,” he added. Protopriest Kovalenko is convinced that “the only way to overcome the schism is to return to thec curch; there is no other way.”