On Monday, the ruling synod of the UOC met and named a "locum tenens" to run the institution's headquarters in Kiev because of the incapacity of its elderly leader, Metropolitan Volodymyr.... The synod said it had ascertained that Metropolitan Volodymyr was definitely too ill to carry out his duties. The new acting leader, a certain Metropolitan Onufry from the southwest of Ukraine, certainly looks, from his biography, like a man who will remain in step with Moscow....However the synod also accepted a proposal from the Kiev Patriarchate for dialogue. Some think this is an attempt to continue to be a player should the Ukrainian government move toward creating a single national church.
Meanwhile, as reported by RIA Novosti, on Wednesday in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy, a dozen backers of the Kiev Patriarchate attempted to seize a UOC-MP cathedral and threatened to set it on fire. Other religious groups are also responding. Yesterday's Catholic Sun reports that the Catholic bishop whose diocese includes Crimea issued a statement calling for "all believers and nonbelievers to refrain from extremism, and not to allow the fraternal bond between people living in Crimea to break."
New York Jewish Week this week reports on the uncertain situation of the Jewish community in Ukraine. There have been a few anti-Semitic incidents, including the fire bombing of a synagogue. Several outside agencies are providing aid, including funds for increased security, for the Jewish community.
