Supreme Council May Cancel Resolution on Non-Recognition of Election of Head of UOC-MP
The draft resolution was registered on October 25 by a deputy representing the Party of Regions, Ivan Vernydubov. It proposes to cancel the statement of the presidium of the Supreme Council of June 15, 1992, recognizing as illegitimate the results of the Hierarchical Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) of May 27-28, 1992, where Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) was elected head of the UOC-MP. That Council also dismissed the then head of the UOC-MP, Metropolitan Filaret (Denysenko), who is now the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP).
The statement of the Supreme Council of June 15, 1992, in particular says that the council led “to feuds and conflict situations in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church...The Ukrainian state does not interfere in the affairs of the church but neither does it allow to act contrary to the statutes of a religious association. The Kharkiv Council of the UOC was held with violations of the statutes of UOC and therefore its decisions cannot be recognized,” reads the document.
According to the press secretary of the head of the UOC-MP, Protopriest Heorhii Kovalenko, if passed, the draft resolution will only constate the existing situation, as, despite the statement of the presidium of the Supreme Council of June 15, 1992, the UOC-MP has retained the state registration and Filaret had to establish a new church, the UOC-KP. “Even though that decision was a legal nonsense and was not valid, it offended us,” noted the protopriest.
According to representatives of the UOC-KP, the cancellation of the statement of 1992 will make the relations between the Orthodox denominations more complicated. “A possible cancellation of the statement of the presidium will be a political decision as its passing was. At the same time, it will show the present negative attitude of the authorities to the UOC-KP,” stated the head of the Information and Publishing Department of the UOC-KP, Bishop Yevstratii (Zoria).
