OCU to issue address to “believers and bishops dependent on ROC's position”
The OCU has turned its attention to “further steps toward overcoming the church division in Ukraine.”
Following Epifaniy (Dumenko)’s trip to Istanbul, the leadership of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine spoke of “further steps in the matter of overcoming the church division in Ukraine.”
On February 2, 2026, the synod of that organization stated that for “seven years” the OCU has repeatedly “appealed with calls to begin a constructive dialogue” to Orthodox hierarchs, clergy, and believers in Ukraine who, “contrary to canonical order and the provisions of the Tomos on autocephaly,” continue to remain outside unity with the OCU, “holding erroneous views on church matters” shaped by the Russian Orthodox Church / Moscow Patriarchate.
The OCU synod also declared that the OCU “continues its efforts to achieve church unity in Ukraine in accordance with canonical order and the Tomos on autocephaly.”
Whether the statement referred to forceful seizures of UOC churches or meant something else, the synod did not clarify.
“In order to provide organizational assistance and to coordinate the resolution of the practical aspects of conducting a constructive dialogue on overcoming church contradictions among Orthodox Christians in Ukraine, provoked by the erroneous views and decisions of the Moscow Patriarchate of the ROC, it was decided to create a synodal commission on dialogue,” the text says.
The OCU also promised to publish the text of an address “to Orthodox believers, clergy, and hierarchs in Ukraine who depend on the position of the Russian Patriarchate.”
The OCU did not explain who these people are, or in what way they are dependent on the ROC’s position.
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that, according to Epifaniy, he sees no sense in unifying with the UOC, because the OCU “does not need collaborators in its ranks who hate everything Ukrainian.”
