UOC priest: Patriarch Bartholomew is a businessman, not a spiritual leader

Archpriest Alexander Ovcharenko. Photo: VKontakte page

The press secretary of the Zaporizhzhia Eparchy, Archpriest Alexander Ovcharenko, said that the actions of Patriarch Bartholomew are aimed at seizing other people's churches and strengthening personal power and characterize him as a businessman and a worldly person rather than a spiritual leader, reports from.ua.

“I’ll say even more. The Phanar has become an instrument of geopolitics. Or maybe even it wants it itself. Very big stakes are being placed on it in the split of Orthodoxy,” he noted.

The press secretary of the Zaporizhzhia Eparchy spoke about the polls on confessional affiliation, which were conducted among Ukrainians in July 2021, and called them an element of the OCU's PR campaign, which have nothing to do with reality.

“For example, these “sociologists” cannot explain why their voiced support for the OCU among Ukrainian citizens does not develop into overcrowded churches ... In reality, the OCU does not even have those 7 thousand parishes that are on paper. But there are about 3.5-4 thousand real ones. And then, if any. And if in the UOC there are 12,500 parishes, and they even have 7,000, then this is more than half of the UOC. But religious processions show the difference in the number of believers, not a half of the UOC, but 10 or even more times fewer. This year, on the Day of the Baptism of Rus’ in Kyiv, there were at least 300 thousand Orthodox parishioners of the UOC. And the OCU, obviously, in order not to embarrass themselves and not to show their scantiness, generally cancelled their procession on the feast of Prince Vladimir,” he added.

Archpriest Alexander Ovcharenko noted other facts that refute "sociology" in favour of the OCU.

According to him, if the OCU really has great support from society, “why don't we see a corresponding increase in the number of its parishes? ... We see empty or half-empty temples of the OCU.”

Secondly, "the OCU has never been able to organize and conduct a procession or a prayer service, which, in terms of the number of participants, could be compared with the Great Cross Procession of the UOC in Kyiv."

Thirdly, "in the OCU there is practically no institution of monasticism, and monasteries exist more on paper than in reality" while "in the UOC there are about 5 thousand monks and nuns in more than 200 monasteries".

According to the priest, the schism is a tragedy and a spiritual illness, but he believes that this schism will be overcome in the future.

“I believe because I see how every Sunday at the Divine Liturgy in the churches of the UOC, thousands of people pray for peace, unity of mind and the welfare of God's Churches. Ukraine will remain an Orthodox country. It will overcome this dark time of schisms. Orthodoxy will remain a state-forming religion in the future, and millions of Ukrainians will receive communion from one Chalice,” he added.

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