BREAKING: Zelensky Revokes Ukrainian Citizenship of Metropolitan Onufriy

A graphic from the SBU reads, "BASED ON SBU MATERIALS UKRAINIAN CITIZENSHIP REVOKED FOR OREST BEREZOVSKY (THE SO-CALLED METROPOLITAN ONUPHRY OF THE UOC (MP))

KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree revoking the Ukrainian citizenship of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy, the primate of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). This was announced by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), which stated that the measure was taken “based on materials” provided by them, according to the Union of Orthodox Journalists Ukrainian branch (SPZh).

The SBU claims that as early as 2002, Metropolitan Onufriy obtained Russian citizenship without notifying the Ukrainian authorities. Furthermore, according to the SBU, “based on available information,” the metropolitan maintained contact with the Moscow Patriarchate and deliberately opposed “the canonical independence of the Ukrainian Church from the Moscow Patriarchate.”

“Despite the full-scale invasion, Berezovsky (Onufriy) effectively continues to support the policies of the Russian Orthodox Church and its leadership, particularly Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev),” the SBU press service stated.

As previously reported by UOJ, recent comments by Ukraine's ambassador to Romania inspired the Romanian Patriarchate to renew its support for the canonical UOC.

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