Priest laments loss of parishioners after joining OCU

Orest Drahinda and Roman Hryshchuk. Photo: Hryshchuk's Facebook

Former UOC priest Orest Drahinda complained in an interview with the YouTube channel Viche that after he joined the OCU, his parishioners did not follow him.

“When I took the step I did, probably one fifth, maybe even fewer people accepted it, who went with me,” Drahinda said. He maintains, however, that he had “quite a lot of authority” in the parish.

The former priest explains the parishioners’ position as being due to “social bonds.”

“If a man wants to [switch], his wife won’t let him. If both the husband and wife want to, their relatives will be offended at them, and they don’t want to ruin those ties,” Drahinda shared.

According to him, some people urge him to repent and return to the Church, but he sees no need to do so.

“My answer is this: I can repent of sins that I recognize as sins. But here I don’t see any sin,” Drahinda emphasized.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Drahinda said he had joined the OCU to avoid beatings and bloodshed.

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