10.05.2007, [19:12] // UOC-MP // RISU.ORG.UA
Moscow – According to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) has enough freedom of management and doesn’t need to change its status as part of the Moscow Patriarchate. religare.ru posted the story on 8 May 2007.
“Preservation of the spiritual union and general historical space in which Kyiv is still the mother of the cities of Rus is desirable for all those who live both in greater Russia and Ukraine,” said Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, secretary for inter-Orthodox relations of the ROC.
Fr. Balashov recalled that the UOC-MP, which is “a self-governing but inseparable part of the Moscow Patriarchate,” has nearly 11,000 parishes, including “the overwhelming majority of believers in Ukraine... And, as far as I know, it does not even want to be distanced from Moscow. There is no need for this, as it is absolutely independent in its internal administration.”
According to Fr. Balashov, the church schism which occurred in Ukraine in the early 1990s was motivated by “purely political considerations” and was supported by powers which made a maximum effort to alienate Ukraine from Russia.
However, “despite its poor condition, the [UOC-MP] managed to preserve the overwhelming majority of faithful,” underlined Fr. Balashov.
“As soon as political interference and pressure upon church life stops, the church schism will be soon healed,” said Fr. Balashov.
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