Metropolitan Clement: No one can accuse the UOC of a split

Metropolitan Clement of Nizhyn and Pryluky, Chairman of the UOC Information and Education Department, stated that the decisions of the UOC Council do not contradict the canonical norms of the church structure of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, but emphasize its independent status. He said this in an interview with Klymenko Time.

Commenting on the Council in Feofania, the bishop reminded that there are two terms in the decision of the historical Council of the ROC of 1990 used in relation to the Ukrainian Church – "autonomous" and "independent". However, all this time there were some clauses in the UOC Charter that did not allow for an unambiguous assessment of its status.

“For example, there were paragraphs which determined that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is guided in its activities by the decisions of the Synods and Councils of the UOC and the Synods and Councils of the ROC. This provision contradicts the notion of the independence and autonomy of the Church. Although in practice the UOC in previous years did not accept all the norms that were determined by the governing bodies of the ROC as mandatory, the decision of the Council, which took place on the 27th of May, clearly identified the factors in the main documents determining the status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” Metropolitan Clement specified.

Speaking about the decisions of the UOC Council, the hierarch noted that the Church is not focused on how it will be perceived by the outside world.

"Whether we will be loved more or less after that is not the factor to influence the decisions of the Church," he explained. “The decisions that the Church makes are primarily aimed at living within Her. The Council found an opportunity to word its decisions in such a way that the plentitude of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is preserved in unity. External factors are very different and sometimes diametrically opposed, which in some regions have one impact on the Church, while in others – another impact.

The Metropolitan of Nizhyn and Pryluky stressed that the decisions made at the Council did not provoke anyone to leave the Church and therefore to fall into schism and a questionable canonical status.

"The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has done everything possible so that no one can accuse it of splitting. All the decisions were very important," stressed the head of the UOC Information and Education Department.

It will be recalled that the Council, which took place on May 27, 2022 in Feofania, declared the full independence of the UOC.