Patr. Daniel Appeals to Court in UOC Dissolution Case

KYIV — Patr. Daniel of Bulgaria and several senior hierarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church have submitted letters of appeal to the Ukrainian court hearing a case that seeks to dissolve the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), according to Archpriest Nikita Chekman, one of the church's attorneys.

Chekman said the appeals were filed with the court and that additional letters were sent directly to the Kyiv Metropolis, though their contents have not yet been made public. Among the Bulgarian hierarchs identified as participating were Metr. Gabriel of Lovech and Metr. John of Varna. The bishops have previously voiced support for the canonical UOC amid the ongoing ecclesiastical dispute in Ukraine. At the same time, other Bulgarian hierarchs participated in concelebrations with representatives of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) in Istanbul in 2024, reflecting differing approaches within the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

On the eve of Wednesday's court proceedings, Patr. Daniel also sent a letter of support to Metr. Onuphry of the UOC, which stated the following:

"Against the backdrop of the unending tragedy of the bloody four-year war being endured by the brotherly Ukrainian people, we are particularly troubled by reports of the possible cancellation of the legal registration of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Such an act would constitute an attempt to restrict the religious rights and freedoms of millions of our brothers and sisters, as well as an interference in the internal affairs of the Orthodox faith. In this regard, we express our unconditional support for the right to religious confession, the legally guaranteed status, and the judicial registration of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has been the consistent position of our predecessors, the ever-memorable Bulgarian Patriarchs Maxim and Neofit."

The legal proceedings began in September 2025, when Ukraine's State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience filed a lawsuit seeking the dissolution of the Kyiv Metropolis. The UOC responded by filing a counterclaim, and the case has since become one of the most closely watched legal disputes involving the Church.

Chekman also reported that roughly 10,000 petitions have been submitted by believers asking the court to allow them to participate in the proceedings as third parties. Meanwhile, the UOC has pointed to a significant appellate ruling issued on April 6, when the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal overturned the approval of a 2023 expert analysis that had concluded the UOC remained part of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to the UOC's Legal Department, the court determined that the analysis was legally defective and lacked legal force.

Previously, the UOJ reported that the Pochaiv Lavra called the faithful to prayer ahead of the court hearing.