‘Truth will prevail’: Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany spoke on the creation of schism in Ukraine, headed by a layman, and how it might be overcome

3rd March 2026

His Eminence Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia granted an interview to the Union of Orthodox Journalists, in which he commented on the difficult ecclesiastical situation in Ukraine. The full interview may be read here.

According to Metropolitan Mark, the intervention of the Patriarchate of Constantinople resulted in its granting a Tomos of autocephaly to a schismatic structure in Ukraine, which was established with a layperson — a man, His Eminence particularly emphasised, ‘who has neither priestly nor episcopal ordination’ — at its head.

‘But the truth will prevail’, Vladyka Mark stressed. In response to the question of how faithful of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church should defend their faith, the Metropolitan stressed that one must rely on the examples of the saints.

‘Saint Gregory the Theologian was at one time the only Orthodox bishop in Constantinople. And he had only one small church there. All other church buildings were in the hands of heretics. He was questioned, slandered, and persecuted by many, including those in power’, Metropolitan Mark recounted. ‘By firmly and unequivocally preserving the true Faith, he triumphed, his theology prevailed, and it has defined Orthodoxy for centuries. Thus, in the end, the truth was established.

‘Therefore no one should be discouraged or lose hope. God protects His children, even when the struggle at the moment seems unequal, when heretics and schismatics are in the majority. Truth already carries victory within itself, even if it is not outwardly visible.’

The recognition that Epiphaniy Dumenko is in fact a layman and not a cleric, despite the current claims of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, has been noted by other parts of the Orthodox world. Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to the head of the Polish Church, His Eminence Metropolitan Savva, Epiphaniy Dumenko remains a simple layman. ‘This young secular person was greatly harmed when he was appointed metropolitan’, noted the Primate. ‘In the light of canonical law, he is not a clergyman. He is not ordained in the canonical Church.’