The Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, emphasized during a conversation with journalists in Transcarpathia that the Ukrainian state does not interfere in the internal processes of Ukrainian Orthodoxy. According to him, the authorities adhere to the principle of separation of church and state and believe that the issue of unifying Orthodox communities should be resolved gradually.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Position of the Ukrainian authorities on church processes
Budanov stressed that Ukraine, like any modern state, does not interfere in church affairs. He called for giving time for the natural development of the process of unifying Orthodox Christians within one church and warned against hasty decisions in the spiritual sphere.
“Ukraine, like any normal state, is separated from the church. Therefore, give this process time, and everything will be resolved. We cannot rush here; forcing something in the spiritual aspect has never yielded results in any state.”
Kyrylo Budanov also pointed out that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has removed any references to the Moscow Patriarchate from its name, emphasizing that this is already a completed fact.
Control over the issue of reserving priests
Separately, the head of the Office of the President confirmed that he controls the issue of reserving priests, and this practice applies to all religious denominations in Ukraine. According to him, a corresponding legal decision has already been developed, which will allow for the continuation of reservations and the introduction of all necessary changes to current legislation.
Historical context: On December 15, 2018, a Unifying Council took place at St. Sophia Cathedral, where hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and part of the representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which was in unity with the Moscow Patriarchate, proclaimed the establishment of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). Metropolitan Epiphanius was elected its head.
Today, two main Orthodox jurisdictions operate in Ukraine: the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which received a tomos from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, part of whose clergy, especially in temporarily occupied territories, maintains ties with Moscow.
After the onset of Russia’s full-scale aggression in 2022, the issue of the final unification of Orthodox communities around the OCU became an element of national security. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has repeatedly emphasized that unification around the OCU is the only possible condition for church peace in Ukraine.