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In the spring of 2025, a new English‑language media project began to operate actively in the United States under the name “Union of Orthodox Journalists” (in Ukrainian, Spilka Pravoslavnykh Zhurnalistiv, often abbreviated as SPZh; hereafter UOJ‑SPZh, or simply UOJ). It presents itself as a platform that will “objectively cover the life of Orthodox communities” and “defend canonical Orthodoxy.” For many Orthodox Christians in North America, this name may sound trustworthy—even pious.
For readers in Ukraine, however, where this project first emerged and took shape, the brand UOJ‑SPZh carries a very specific church‑political meaning. It has been an active participant in a bitter church and information struggle for many years.
Now that UOJ seeks to win an American audience, Orthodox readers in the U.S. face a basic question of trust: What kind of media outlet is this? What role did it play in Ukraine during the years of dramatic church changes between 2015 and 2022? And what conclusions should those who encounter its publications on American soil draw from this record?
To help orient readers, this article offers an analytical overview prepared in Ukraine at the request of the editors.
Read the full piece by Public Orthodoxy here.
The post Public Orthodoxy: What U.S. readers should know about the UOJ’s Ukrainian past appeared first on Orthodox Observer.
