The Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church continues to show signs of affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church, even as it tries to distance itself from the Moscow Patriarchate.
Source: results of a study by the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience
Details: The research group found that the scope of "independence and autonomy in management" granted by the Russian Orthodox Church to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) does not mean complete independence in the sense granted to autocephalous churches.
The study points out that the charter of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate contains signs of its membership in the structure of the Russian Orthodox Church. In addition, the charter of the Russian Orthodox Church stipulates that the bishops of the UOC-MP are members of the Local and Bishops' Councils of the Russian Orthodox Church and participate in their work.
Among other signs, experts did not find in the official documents and decisions of the UOC's governing bodies and the Kyiv Metropolis that the provision of Chapter X of the Statute of the Russian Orthodox Church had lost its validity for the UOC. That is, decisions made by the Bishops' Council of the Russian Church are binding for the UOC.
Background:
On 9 May, the Cabinet of Ministers (Ukrainian government) approved the procedure for investigating religious organisations' involvement in the Russian Federation and the procedure for considering the issue of confirming the facts of a religious organisation's use to propagate the ideology of the Russian world, a general idea of the superiority of Russian Orthodoxy, culture, language, etc., widely promoted by pro-Kremlin figures.The UOC-MP challenged this resolution in court.On 20 May, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience began an investigation into signs of affiliation between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and a banned foreign religious organisation.On 2 July, Volodymyr Zelenskyy revoked the Ukrainian citizenship of Metropolitan Onufriy, the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. According to the Security Service of Ukraine, he has a Russian passport.On 20 August 2024, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law banning religious organisations associated with the Russian Federation in Ukraine. It stipulates that if signs of affiliation of a religious organisation with the Russian Federation are detected, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience must issue an order for the organisation to eliminate them within nine months.
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