Some priests of the UOC-MP are afraid to join the OCU, so as not to risk their families, - expert opinion
"Both residents of Odessa and Mariupol say that their friends (who remained in the Moscow Patriarchate – ed.) are pleased with their progress. They say, "We're really glad you changed affiliation. We would also switch, but we can't risk our families." Very often, a priest's wife opposes. Very often, the wives of priests are the daughters of deans of the Moscow Patriarchate," she said on Channel 5.
"The diocesan bishop's threats of defrocking and job deprivation should also be borne in mind," added metropolitan Oleksandr (Drabinko) of Pereyaslavl and Vishneve, OCU.
"Of course, priests are very sensitive to all signals from above. And how Mr. Trofimov (former First Deputy Chairman of the OP Sergey Trofimov – Ed.) behaved – he called the governors and said: "Everything is rolling back," Samokhvalova said.
She added that now she would like to see a certain agreement of the elites on the issue of unifying churches.
"The Ecumenical Patriarch will come with God's help in the summer. Of course, there is a slowdown in transitions, priests are intimidated, but the potential for moving is simply huge," she said.
The Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine continues to resist the transition of communities to the OCU: for example, in November, the OCU community in the village of Uspenka in the Kirovohrad region managed to comply with a court decision, enter the church and change the locks only with the help of employees of the state executive service. "Titushki" who were brought from other villages tried to prevent them.
