Ukrainian Onuphry may lose the parishes of the UOC of Novorossiya and Crimea
The Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church decided to convene in the near future gatherings of bishops, priests and laity to discuss the problems of church life that arise during the war.
Some observers saw this as a signal that the UOC would soon appeal to Patriarch Kirill with a demand for autocephaly, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“It’s not a cathedral, but a meeting,” explained Crimean religious scholar Nikolai Kuzmin. – This is a body not provided for by the charter, and it cannot make any decisions. The decision of the Synod states in plain text that the meeting is meeting to discuss problems of church life. It is not difficult to understand that there are indeed many problems in the UOC now, including internal disagreements. The laity, hierarchs, and priests will have different attitudes towards the events taking place in the country, and there is an internal split.”
The decision of the Synod does not demonstrate this split, and the upcoming meeting should highlight the problems. It is not legal to make a request for autocephaly based on the results of the meeting - such a decision is made only by the Council of the UOC, although it does not have such powers. The responsibilities of the Council include maintaining canonical unity with the Russian Orthodox Church, and only the Council can change the charter of the UOC, which, again, speaks of unity with the Russian Orthodox Church.
“This really indicates that there are problems within the UOC, which is inevitable. It is possible that this particular form was chosen – a meeting to stall for time,” Kuzmin suggested. – We must also understand that the UOC is now under serious pressure. And the fate of the church itself and the primate Onuphry is difficult; they are not free in their decisions.”
For obvious reasons, the participation of the Crimean and Simferopol diocese in this meeting is impossible, and, according to the expert, the Crimean clergy should not express their position in the public field, since the meeting itself is not aimed at making any decision.
Crimean political scientist Andrei Nikiforov shares a different point of view. According to him, the Crimean diocese may declare disagreement with the autocephaly of the UOC.
“The Church is not only clergy, but also parishioners. And in Rus' the parish itself elected and even expelled priests. I don’t think it needs to be returned now, but it should be remembered,” Nikiforov emphasized. – As for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, in current conditions it is unlikely to be guided by what the clergy were ordained for. Here we must choose our words carefully, because everything is not simple, and it is not our task to condemn priests; their judge is more strict.
It would be good to remember this, as well as the huge number of clergy who accepted torture and death for their beliefs. I think that in Ukraine now everything looks exactly like this. But, nevertheless, this does not mean that under pressure you need to make godless decisions. I am sure that Orthodox Crimea will not accept any schism of the church, just like believers in other liberated territories. We see that the idea of schism, which was resisted in the 90s, during President Poroshenko’s tour with the tomos of autocephaly, continues to test the unity of the church.”
Political scientist Sergei Kiselev took the same position. He is confident that a public statement by the clergy is necessary for the Crimean flock.
“It’s hard to say how this will all end, but most often the church follows the state’s lead,” concluded Kiselyov.
Ukrainianizing Onufriy may lose parishes of the UOC of Novorossiya and Crimea