KYIV. UkraineGate , 11 , June , 2022 | Political News .
The unification of the Ukrainian church into a single local one is inevitable in the future, but those who have such a desire will unite. This was stated in an interview with NV by the head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (PCU), Metropolitan Epiphanius .
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“Unification is inevitable. Irreversible processes began in 2018, when we held a unifying Council, and three branches of Ukrainian Orthodoxy merged into a single local Orthodox Church of Ukraine. At that time, unfortunately, few bishops from the MP came to this Council, but three and a half years later, when a large-scale Russian invasion began, many hierarchs and clergy, especially MP MPs, realized that it was impossible to stay in this church. Therefore, gradually, from the grassroots, from parishes, they began to join the PCU, ”he explained.
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At the same time, he added that those who have such a desire will join. It is assumed that in Ukraine there will be some who will remain from the ROC. However, it is unknown whether it will be an exarchate or a metropolis.
“They will take the appropriate name of the Russian church and, please, we do not need those who will destroy the Ukrainian church from the inside. The same unity will be only with those who have matured to this unity, ”Epiphanius added.
According to him, the division in Ukrainian Orthodoxy has been going on for 30 years. But for the sake of Ukraine, “we are ready to start this dialogue from scratch and write the latest church history together,” the metropolitan continued, answering questions about the church’s lustration procedure.
“But we must also admit our mistakes, without this the movement is impossible – we need to rethink what has been done, leave it in the past and build a common future together. Therefore, there will be a dialogue, and the commissions will decide who to accept and who not. If a person has shown himself to be very negative, it will only be a problem for the church, ”he concluded.
Addition
The head of the UOC, Metropolitan Epiphanius, stressed that despite the statement on the separation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC) from the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), the UOC remains part of Russian Orthodoxy.
Source: Ukrgate
