"Entertaining Maths" of the Opponents of the UOC

On July 30, a critical article was posted on the website religion.in.ua about the number of the faithful of the UOC, who took part in the celebrations to commemorate the Millennium of the demise of the Holy Prince Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles and the Day of Baptism of Rus’. It goes about a prayer service at Vladimir's Hill, and the procession, organized by the UOC.

Its authors questioned the data, voiced by official representatives of the UOC, although the figure of 20-30 thousand believers was fully confirmed by hundreds of photos and dozens of videos. In addition, the official figure, voiced by law enforcement bodies, is not 6,000, as it was written in the article on the site, but about15,000 people( in contrast, the column of the UOC(KP) in Kiev, according to the data on the official site of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, comes up to 600 people, while some mass media gave the incredible figure of 15,000 believers; why this discrepancy did not attract the attention of those who write about the UOC is not clear).

{gallery}antifakejuly3{/gallery}

Generally, it could be accounted for the authors’ carelessness – they didn’t follow the updated data of the police, but for the picture posted in confirmation of the "paucity" of a procession of the UOC. What do we see in it? If we read the satellite map to get our bearings, it turns out that in the picture the column of the faithful, led by the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, stretches almost 10 meters long from turning on Petrovskaya Alley, and slightly up the street. This fact alone is enough to suspect the absurdity of this "optical illusion" and clumsy work in Photoshop. If you compare with other photographs, everything fits together.

{gallery}antifakejuly2{/gallery}

July 31 was an end date for a poll conducted by the site RISU on what religious leader inspires most trust among Ukrainians. It shows that Sheikh Ahmed Tamim…rates first with 68.9% of votes! No comments.

In our opinion, these surveys have long failed to inspire confidence, and the main criterion of strength of varying denominations is the number of religious communities. It should be recalled that it’s the Ukrainian Orthodox Church which has the largest number of registered Orthodox religious communities - more than 12 thousand parishes.

The New McCarthyism

Today, a delegation of Orthodox clergy will meet with the White House to plead on behalf of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). Yet mainstream media outlets like The Hill and politicians like Rep. Joe Wilson are dismissing the effort as a Kremlin psyop. This is offensive to the UOC, and to Orthodox Christians here in the United States.

Zelensky-Style Sanctions: The 'Mindich Case' vs. the 'UOJ Case'

Ten years of sanctions for journalists who criticize the authorities, and three years for corrupt officials who steal millions. A story about whom and how people are punished in modern Ukraine.

Will the Phanar Abandon the OCU?

The Orthodox Times ' plea for a “temporary Exarchate” in Ukraine under Constantinople admits the 2019 Tomos birthed division, not unity. Amid OCU defections, state seizures, and Phanar whispers of a puppet church, the proposal is a white flag for a failed intervention. Of course, it also vindicates Met. Onuphry’s steadfast flock.

The Papacy Is Not a 'Development'—It's a Contradiction

The Holy Canons assert the absolute authority of each bishop within his own diocese. The Ecumenical Councils, while acknowledging the Pope's symbolic primacy, also explicitly checked his attempts to exercise superior authority over the Church, or to place himself above his fellow bishops. And the Church Fathers fleshed out this ecclesiology, affirming the rights of bishops and synods while checking papal ambitions.

Meet the New Rome, Same as the Old Rome

J.D. Vance’s comparison of the Ecumenical Patriarch to the Pope highlights growing tensions within Orthodoxy, as critics accuse Patriarch Bartholomew of pursuing "Greek papism" and aligning with U.S. geopolitical interests, risking the erosion of his primacy of love and the unity of the Orthodox Church.

The Trial of Met. Tychikos: When the Church ‘Washes Her Hands’

A look at the clear parallels between Pilate’s trial and the trial of Met. Tychikos.