Met. Anthony: Unification with OCU Impossible Under Canon Law
Met. Anthony stated that unification with the OCU is impossible under canon law, as it arose from schismatic structures and was merely legalized, not reconciled.
KYIV — Met. Anthony (Pakanich) of Boryspil and Brovary, Chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), has reiterated that unification with the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) is impossible under Orthodox canon law. In an extensive interview with the Serbian portal Život Crkve (“Life of the Church”), he explained that the OCU emerged outside the canonical order, from previously condemned schismatic structures, and lacks lawful apostolic succession.
Met. Anthony emphasized that the 2018 unification of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church—Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church into the OCU represented “legalization, not the healing of a schism,” noting that all Local Orthodox Churches, including Constantinople, had regarded these bodies as schismatic prior to that date.
The Metropolitan also criticized the lack of response from the Ecumenical Patriarchate regarding church seizures and violence against UOC faithful, describing the silence as “extraordinarily painful.” He stressed that genuine unity is possible only through canonical reconciliation and recognition of the UOC as the sole canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
Previously, the UOJ reported that Met. Anthony condemned the Ukrainian government's ultimatum that all UOC churches severe ties with the Moscow Patriarchate.
