UOC not legally part of Moscow Patriarchate – official

Oleksandr Pyvovarskyi. Photo: oda.zht.gov.ua

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is not legally part of the Moscow Patriarchate. This was stated to journalists by Oleksandr Pyvovarskyi, chief specialist of the Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and Religions of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Zhytomyr Regional Military Administration, according to Suspilne.

Speaking about the situation with the so-called transitions of UOC communities to the OCU, he referred to the UOC as “the UOC in spiritual unity with the Moscow Patriarchate.”

“In general, I want to draw attention to the fact that people are often confused. There is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in unity with the Moscow Patriarchate. But you will not find such a Church in the Unified State Register, because the prefix ‘in unity’ carries a spiritual-canonical, theological meaning,” Pyvovarskyi corrected himself, adding that “legally this Church is indeed not of the Moscow Patriarchate, because the Moscow Patriarchate is located in the city of Moscow.”

According to him, the prefix referring to the Moscow Patriarchate is added to the UOC “for convenience of designation.”

As the UOJ previously reported, UCCRO has spoken out in favor of continuing the persecution of the UOC.

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