Article by: Alya ShandraThe Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchy (UOC MP) that in May 2022 claimed to sever ties with its mother church is in fact still subjugated to the Russian Orthodox Church, an expert committee has found.
The committee, comprised of religious experts and convened by the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, examined the Statute of the UOC MP for the presence of ecclesiastical and canonical ties with the Moscow Patriarchate after a decision of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience.
This check comes amid increased criticism of UOC MP hierarchs for pro-Russian activities and recognition of its role in spreading the ideology of the Russian world, which maintains that Russia is engaged in a battle against the ungodly West and that Ukraine is predetermined to be part of the Russian world by divine destiny.
Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 pushed the UOC MP to distance itself from its mother church, the Moscow Patriarchy, after a conference in May. Following this event, UOC MP clergymen claimed that it had cut ties with the Russian Orthodox Church and thus the UOC MP should not be subject to sanctions and unjustly suffers from criticism and what they claimed as persecution.