The Greek edition of “Romfeya” compared the draft new charter on the management of the OCU with the provisions enshrined in the tomos.

“It should be noted that the OCU has so far adhered to the Tomos and the Charter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, adopted in 2018,” the publication says.

However, the journalists noted that when comparing the old charter of 2018 with the new charter of the OCU, “there are a number of amendments regarding the internal management of the Church.”

“A characteristic amendment, which is obvious, is the aggressiveness of the new charter in relation to competitors. In particular, the “General Provisions” section is much more aggressive in its content than the old documents of the OCU,” Romfeya notes.

It is also noted that the OCU does not want any dialogue with Metropolitan Onufry of Kyiv and demands “canonical unity of all Orthodox in Ukraine under the omophorion of Metropolitan Epifaniy.”

“In the context of the persecution that the Ukrainian state almost announced against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the text is regarded as an ultimatum to all Orthodox Christians of Ukraine demanding to join the OCU, otherwise the communities will be dissolved and the churches occupied. In fact, the Church of Metropolitan Epifaniy claims the rights all Orthodox monasteries and parishes,” writes the Greek edition.

In addition, it is noted that Epifaniy “reserves the right to the exclusive name” of the organization “Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate”, which, according to analysts, looks like a hint of a future patriarchy.

“The new ‘Charter’ reflects relations with the Ecumenical Throne much more simply, while some of the privileges of the Ecumenical Patriarchate regarding cooperation are ignored,” writes Romfeya.

In the end, as the publication of the Greek edition says, “church sources explain that the text of the new governing charter was developed for “internal” consumption by Ukrainians in order to prove to Ukraine and citizens the maximum possible independence of the OCU.”