OCU accuses UOC-KP members of “crimes against canonical order”
Epifaniy Dumenko and Nikodym Kobzar. Photo: UOJ collage
On April 3, 2026, a meeting of the OCU’s “holy synod” was held in Kyiv, where participants condemned what they described as the “anti-canonical activity” of a group of individuals calling themselves the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate.
According to the organization’s press service, that name is officially reserved for the OCU, which it describes as the “sole universal legal successor” of the liquidated structure.
The OCU stated that representatives of the UOC-KP are “arbitrarily appropriating titles” and committing “crimes against canonical order and church unity.” The statement referred to Archimandrite Nikodym Kobzar, Danyil Kudybin, Mykhailo Kovaliuk, and Nikon Hrabliuk, who, according to the OCU, have unlawfully assumed “episcopal titles.”
“Church judicial proceedings have been initiated against each of them, and they have been summoned to provide explanations at the next meeting of the Holy Synod in May of this year,” the OCU said.
Earlier, UOJ wrote that, in the OCU’s view, those ordained by Filaret after the Tomos are not bishops.
Read also
Greece signs memorandum on protection of Jerusalem Patriarchate's shrines
Next week, the Greek Parliament will ratify a document on the protection of the cultural heritage of the Jerusalem Patriarchate.
Greek bishop calls imposition of same-sex marriage a threat
Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythera urged families to become a “domestic church” amid threats to the Christian family in Greek laws and school curricula.
Patriarch Bartholomew arrives in Budapest for opening of Orthodox center
The Ecumenical Patriarch has arrived in Hungary, where he will preside over the consecration of the Orthodox center "Phanarion."
OCU raiders stage attack on seized church in Kyiv, media
OCU "hierarch" Serhiy Horobtsov published a provocative post online regarding St. John's Church in Bykivnia seized by his people.