Case Opened Against Epiphanius Dumenko for Defamation of UOC Hierarch

Credit: UOJ

August 2025 — the Shevchenko District Court of Kyiv opened proceedings in a civil case against the head of the OCU, Serhii (Epiphany) Dumenko. The lawsuit was filed by Metropolitan Theodosius (Snigiryov) of Cherkasy and Kaniv of the UOC, who is seeking protection of his honor and dignity. The news was reported on the official Facebook page of the Cherkasy Diocese of the UOC.

In his complaint, Metropolitan Theodosius refers to a broadcast on TSN, where Epiphany Dumenko stated:

"Here we see, even in the example of Metropolitan Theodosius of Cherkasy, who does everything to openly preach this ideology, speaks out against the Ukrainian state, against the Ukrainian church at various international platforms. He is attracted by the Russian Federation and used for its purposes, in order to show that there is no freedom of religion in Ukraine."

The lawsuit argues that Dumenko’s statements are untrue, defamatory, and damaging to the honor and reputation of Metropolitan Theodosius. Such accusations, it says, are slanderous and effectively impute a crime to him, violating the principle of the presumption of innocence.

Furthermore, the complaint notes that such public attacks contradict canonical rules — in particular, the 55th canon of the Council of Trullo and the 27th Apostolic canon, which forbid raising unfounded accusations against hierarchs.

Metropolitan Theodosius’s legal team is asking the court to compel Epiphany Dumenko, within five days of the court’s decision taking effect, to retract the false information by publishing a correction on the official OCU website under the “News” section, as well as on Dumenko’s personal Facebook page.

Earlier, the Union of Orthodox Journalists reported that Dumenko discussed the “destructive role” of the Russian Orthodox Church with Constantinople's exarch in Lithuania.

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