[1] On 9 December 1990 he was consecrated Bishop of Chernivtsi and Bukovina by Metropolitan Philaret (Denysenko) at the St Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv.

On 22 January 1992, Onufriy signed a request of the bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II for the erection of an autocephalous Church in Ukraine,[4] and on January 23 Onufriy was transferred by Metropolitan Philaret (Denysenko) to the Ivano-Frankivsk diocese.

On 28 July 1994 Onufriy was elevated to the rank of archbishop[1] and appointed a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox church.

On 24 February 2014 the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church elected Onufriy by secret ballot as locum tenens of the Kyiv metropolitan see, following the issuing of a medical certificate concerning the incapacity of Volodymyr, the Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine, to perform the duties of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

[1] In February 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, along with other local bishops (such as the rival Epiphanius), Onufriy offered the churches of his diocese as shelters from the bombings.

[8] Onufriy did not deny he used to have Russian citizenship, but claimed he had obtained this to make true his former dream of living out his last days in the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius but that "the bad relations between Russia and Ukraine, the collapse of the CIS, and especially Russia's war against Ukraine" had destroyed this hope.

"[16] On the Day of Ukrainian Statehood, July 28 2023, Metropolitan Onufriy gave a speech in which he spoke of "This public holiday, which was established two years ago, has acquired a special significance for our country today.

Today, our people are fighting for the preservation of our state, for its independence and territorial integrity, which was violated as a result of the treacherous invasion of Russian troops.

", Onufriy declared that "The protection of one's Motherland is the sacred duty of every citizen, and therefore every believer of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church."