Former OCU Cleric: Even Those Who Do Not Know the Symbol of Faith are Ordained

Yaroslav Yasynets. Photo: Yaroslav Yasynets/Facebook

KYIV — Yaroslav Yasynets, a former cleric of the Kyiv Diocese of the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), offered a detailed statement announcing his departure from the structure headed by Serhiy "Epiphany" Dumenko and exposed what he called serious problems with the education and formation of its “clergy.”

According to him, the OCU ordains people who do not even have basic theological knowledge. Yasynets cites a shocking example from his own experience:

“I personally witnessed how a newly ordained priest in the Sumy Diocese did not know the Nicene Creed. He told me himself that he was ordained only so that he could serve as a military chaplain at the request of one of the army units.”

“Very often, OCU priests are people with no theological education at all — those who just yesterday were working in secular jobs. If they have not themselves received the sacred tradition of the Church into their hearts, how can they possibly convey it to others?” the former OCU cleric asks. Yasynets also points not only to the low educational level of candidates for the priesthood but to moral problems as well:

“There are many examples where not only uneducated but also immoral people — bigamists or deliberate fornicators — are allowed to be ordained. Rampant alcoholism and other harmful habits among clergy are also widely known.”

The former cleric draws attention to what he calls a critical shortage of priests in the OCU. Despite having more than 8,000 parishes, the Church has only about 4,000 clergy.

“One priest today may be stretched between three or even five parishes, in none of which can he provide full pastoral care,” Yasynets explains.

He adds that OCU seminaries do not produce enough qualified graduates and that the quality of training remains extremely poor. Yasynets sharply criticizes the OCU’s system of theological education, calling its seminaries “spiritual vocational schools.”

Previously, UOJ reported that Dumenko said that, in time, everyone in the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) will "see the light" and join the OCU.

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