Moscow Orthodox Church in Ukraine Now Dismissing Its Own Priests for Supporting Ukrainian Church

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 1 – Despite its efforts to position itself as a Ukrainian church rather than a church of the country that is invading Ukraine, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is now showing its true colors by dismissing from pastoral service priests that have denounced the invasion and cooperated with the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

            The number of such cases is still small and is being handled not by the Russian metropolitanate of Kyiv but by other UOC MP bishoprics, something that keeps this development out of the public eye and likely reflects the individual assessments of each about the course of the military contest.

But it also undercuts the efforts of the UOC MP as a whole to present itself as a Ukrainian rather than Russian organization and more significantly means that the Russian church in Ukraine is now so divided that it has little chance of surviving except as a marginal organization.

            On this, see https://rusk.ru/newsdata.php?idar=114998; on the UOC MP’s efforts to save itself, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/04/as-putins-war-in-ukraine-continues.html; and on that church’s prospects, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/05/moscow-church-wont-survive-in-ukraine.html.