Archimandrite of the Russian Orthodox Church Cyril (Hovorun) in an interview for RISU admitted that before the formation of the OCU he connected the prospects of his ministry with the future project.

At the same time, as the cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church says, he still does not know why he was not allowed to participate in the “council” of 2018, where he was supposed to be an observer.

“As far as I know, at the preliminary stage of preparation for the Council, a question arose, and it was discussed with the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate about the possibility of electing a Primate from among the clergy. Representatives of the Kyiv Patriarchate immediately blocked this proposal.

Although in fact (I am not saying this in connection with myself), if we read the norms as they existed at the end of the 17th century, when the Kyiv Metropolis was transferred to the administration of Moscow, then there, in these norms, it is very clearly spelled out that Metropolitans of Kyiv were actually chosen from among the archimandrites. Thus, given the respect for the ancient principle that a bishop cannot be transferred from one cathedra to another, including the Kyiv cathedra. The representatives of the Kyiv Patriarchate in the negotiations took very seriously to rule out this ancient norm. I just sincerely laughed at these attempts,” says Hovorun.