On January 21, 2024, the Facebook account “More Caucasus” published a video showing a young woman using incense in a church. According to the author of the post, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) allowed women to serve as priests.
The claim that women have been granted the right to serve as priests in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is false. In a comment to “Myth Detector,” the press office of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine denied the disseminated information.
“Myth Detector” contacted the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (Kyiv Patriarchate) to obtain information about the video and claims spread on Facebook. The press center of the OCU denied the mentioned information and stated that the church did not allow women to hold priestly rites. According to the information sent by them, it is established that the spokesman of the Kyiv Patriarchate, Metropolitan Eustrat of Bilotserkov, has already commented on this video on social media. In the post, he explains that the liturgy teacher, who is a clergyman, decided to give the students a practical lesson on conducting church rituals that were not part of the actual priesthood. He considered that all students should be equally able to perform tasks, including practical ones, so he allowed a young woman to participate in these rituals and use incense.
In a statement, Eustrat expressed concern that the enemies of Ukraine used this video to spread disinformation. By his own claim, the seminary teacher in question admitted that he had made a mistake and should not have allowed a woman to perform this practical task, because, in reality, she would never have to do it.
Along with the post, the cleric uploaded two photos showing some nuns using incense in the church. According to Eustrat, this happens in the church under the Moscow Patriarchate. According to him, “provocateurs do not pay attention” to these shots, only because these would not help them to discredit Ukraine and its church.
After the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, a number of false claims were disseminated on social networks in order to discredit the Orthodox Church of Ukraine of the Kyiv Patriarchate. Read more in the “Myth Detector” articles:
- VIDEOMANIPULATION ABOUT THE ORTHODOX CHURCH OF UKRAINE
- PHOTOMANIPULATION, AS IF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH OF UKRAINE IS CREATING A NEW ROBE FOR THE CLERGY
- BACKSTORY AND ORIGIN OF THE VIRAL VIDEO SHOWING A THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE IN A CHURCH IN UKRAINE
- A SATANIC RITUAL OR AN OLD UKRAINIAN SONG ABOUT THE EMERGENCE OF HEAVEN AND EARTH? (in Georgian)
About the Source:
The anonymous Facebook account, More Caucasus, frequently publishes anti-Ukrainian content. “Myth Detector” debunked the false information spread by the user in the past as well.
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