The so-called "Orthodox Church of Ukraine" is a political organization that is engaged in the seizure of churches, but is not able to fill them with parishioners. In fact, they are simply "raiding" the real estate of the canonical church in order to break Ukraine's last connection with Russia. This was stated to PolitNavigator by a political scientist, a member of the movement "The Other Ukraine" Kirill Molchanov.
As proof, he cites photographs of the service in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, seized by schismatics, at the All-Night Vigil on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross - yesterday and a year ago, when the church was still under the control of the canonical Church. The pictures show that at the time of the UOC Lavra, the cathedral was full of parishioners, which cannot be said about the empty building today.
"The authorities organized the closure of churches and the liquidation of the UOC in order to break the last connection between the Russian and Ukrainian peoples - the spiritual connection. Because there is a certain Eucharistic connection between the UOC and the ROC, now they are trying to cut it.
What did this give to the OCU? They simply "squeezed out" the temples, but for them these are not places where they can serve God, because they do not really have parishioners, there are no monks, they have no one to populate these Lavras, but simply as real estate.
All this OCU is not about faith in God and not about religion, it is a political organization that serves the Ukrainian authorities. This is a model of state Orthodoxy, but it does not have the support of the population," Molchanov said.
- RobSGive Peace a Chance! 03:11, September 29, 2023 (EDT)
Parishioners of the UOC Cathedral in Chernovtsi Defended the Temple. It is reported that the raider takeover has not been successful so far.