UOC has twice as many priests as OCU – Olena Bohdan
UOC procession with the Cross in Kyiv. Photo: korrespondent.net
On September 13, 2022, Olena Bohdan, head of Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), said that the UOC has significantly more priests and communities than the OCU. She made the statement at the conference Religious Peace or a “Clash of Civilizations.”
“The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is the largest religious association in Ukraine. The UOC has had, and continues to have, roughly twice as many priests as the Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” Bohdan stressed, adding that the UOC also has two million faithful.
However, according to Bohdan, the media do not report “how many UOC faithful are serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, how many UOC faithful have been killed, or how much humanitarian aid the UOC provides.”
“All of this remains behind the scenes. The media don’t show it in the news,” Olena Bohdan stated.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to the head of DESS, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra would remain with the UOC.
Read also
Orthodox and Catholic bishops make joint visit to Mount Athos
The head of the Phanar blessed a joint pilgrimage to Mount Athos by Roman Catholic and Orthodox bishops.
UOC Kryvyi Rih Eparchy marks 30th anniversary
Metropolitan Yefrem led the anniversary Divine Liturgy in Kryvyi Rih.
Ostapenko: Everyone in UCCRO feels fine except the “FSB UOC”
The director of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve called the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches “a wonderful organization.”
Khmelnytskyi Eparchy donates funds for treatment of 12-year-old girl
UOC believers raised UAH 20,000 for Anastasiia Mamchur as part of an eparchial charity campaign.
Shevchuk: We had to convince world UOC ban does not violate religious freedom
The UGCC head claims that by banning the UOC, the state is not violating religious freedom but merely protecting the Church’s faithful from Moscow propaganda.
Lavra reserve head estimates damage to Dormition Cathedral at €15 million
Maksym Ostapenko said restoring the Dormition Cathedral would take at least a couple of years and require major funding.