The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) celebrated the third anniversary of its Council with a Divine Liturgy officiated by Metropolitan Onufriy at the Monastery of St. Panteleimon on the Feast of Theophany.
On this occasion, three years after the UOC declared its “independence” from the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Onufriy noted that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church possesses all the attributes of full canonical independence following the 2022 Council.
He expressed hope that the family of autocephalous local churches would offer moral support to the UOC and recognize and honor its independence.
However, this was a unilateral decision made in 2022, and the status of the UOC has remained unclear since then. All other churches continue to regard the UOC as part of the Moscow Patriarchate and remain in communion with it.
Moreover, in the Orthodox Church, there is no such thing as an “independent” church that is not autocephalous. The UOC has not received autocephaly from any recognized authority, let alone the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which has the authority to grant it.
Metropolitan Onufriy also emphasized that today marks the anniversary of the 1992 Council held in Kharkiv.
