No ice has been “broken”, as the Minister of Culture Olexander Tkachenko reports in his bravado on FB and as the ignorant and unprofessional media picked up.
More precisely, this “ice” may have broken, but not today, and definitely without the ministry. It was crashed by the terrible war between Russia and Ukraine. It even forced priests from the UOC to rethink their status. Which, in fact, found manifestation in the decisions of the last local council of the UOC.
I personally know the priests from the UOC who were at that meeting. They have long opposed Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev for his support of the war and do not commemorate him. Appropriate appeals were recorded about this, which can be seen on the Internet.
They came to the meeting, introducing themselves, because they did not have the blessing of Metropolitan Onuphry for these negotiations. That is, the event is private, and not official from the point of view of the UOC.
It is important to understand that the priests are not only against Kirill Gundyaev. But they are also against Epiphany. They do not want to be in the OCU, because they would have realized their desire long ago. And Epiphany and Yevstratiy are not an authority for them either. They are considered upstarts, unspiritual people. Fathers speak frankly about this.
And judging by the representation of the OCU, even Epiphany understands that this is not an event that can change something – he sent non-authoritative and third-rate priests from the OCU to the meeting.
Therefore, the sensation turned out to be fake…
The issue of the unification of Ukrainian Orthodoxy is too important and too scrupulous for officials to hype about it. We should not turn a holy cause into an information bubble. During a real war, we have no right to live in illusions!
