UOC opens first church in western Ukrainian city since 1990s—others seized by schismatics and Uniates

Gorodenka, Ivano-Frankivsk Province, Ukraine, December 22, 2020

Photo: ivano-frankivsk.church.ua Photo: ivano-frankivsk.church.ua     

On Saturday, December 19, the feast of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church celebrated its first service in a new church in the city of Gorodenko in the western Ukrainian Ivano-Frankivsk Province.

The Church of St. Elijah is the first canonical parish in the city since the 1990s, as the other churches were seized by Philaret Denisenko’s “Kiev Patriarchate” and the Uniate Greek Catholics, reports the Ivano-Frankivsk Diocese of the canonical Ukrainian Church.

Uniatism is the majority religion in the province, with 57% of the population. Only 35% identify as Orthodox, and even that number is split between canonical Orthodox Christians and schismatics.

Photo: ivano-frankivsk.church.ua Photo: ivano-frankivsk.church.ua     

With the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Seraphim of Ivano-Frankivsk and Kolomyia, clergy of the Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi-Bukovina Dioceses gathered on the feast of St. Nicholas to join the St. Elijah parish community and their rector for the first Divine Liturgy in their own church in several decades.

Photo: ivano-frankivsk.church.ua Photo: ivano-frankivsk.church.ua     

During the service, a special prayer was offered for peace and tranquility in Ukraine. Following the Liturgy, a memorial litiya was served for all reposed Orthodox Christians.

The parishioners who actively worked and helped in the arrangements of the church were blessed with Church awards.

Photo: ivano-frankivsk.church.ua Photo: ivano-frankivsk.church.ua     

“The clergy and faithful of the Ivano-Frankivsk diocese, headed by His Eminence Archbishop Seraphim, sincerely congratulate the rector and parishioners of St. Elijah’s Church on the revival of liturgical life in their own church,” writes the diocesan press service.

According to Archpriest Rostislav Yarema, an expert on Ukrainian Orthodox history, in 1990, there were 619 Orthodox parishes in the Ivano-Frankivsk Province, but between 1990 and 1997, more than 500 were seized by Uniates.

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12/22/2020

See also
2020 report: Ukrainian Church grows in number of monasteries, parishes, bishops, clergy 2020 report: Ukrainian Church grows in number of monasteries, parishes, bishops, clergy 2020 report: Ukrainian Church grows in number of monasteries, parishes, bishops, clergy 2020 report: Ukrainian Church grows in number of monasteries, parishes, bishops, clergy
Yesterday, during the final session of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for 2020, His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary, the Chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, presented a report on the life of the Church over the past year. Metropolitan Onuphry: Future of Orthodoxy in Ukraine depends on us Metropolitan Onuphry: Future of Orthodoxy in Ukraine depends on us Metropolitan Onuphry: Future of Orthodoxy in Ukraine depends on us Metropolitan Onuphry: Future of Orthodoxy in Ukraine depends on us
An international academic conference was held at the Kiev Theological Academy at the Holy Dormition-Kiev Caves Lavra yesterday, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the granting of the Gramota of Independence and Autonomy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by His Holiness Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow and All Russia. Interconfessional Conflicts in Ukraine During the Twentieth to Twenty-first Centuries Interconfessional Conflicts in Ukraine During the Twentieth to Twenty-first Centuries
Archpriest Rostislav Yarema Interconfessional Conflicts in Ukraine During the Twentieth to Twenty-first Centuries Interconfessional Conflicts in Ukraine During the Twentieth to Twenty-first Centuries
Archpriest Rostislav Yarema
In this article, Fr. Rostislav talks about the history of violent church seizures, and secretive Vatican collusion in Ukraine after the breakup of the USSR and the creation of an independent Ukrainian state.
Comments
m. Cornelia12/23/2020 12:18 pm
Yes, David, they did just seize them. If people are willing to give up their churches to a different religious organization, then we are not talking about seizure, but a peaceful handing over. These changes were accompanied by violence, and therefore it the word "seize" is quite applicable. Some people wanted to return to Uniatism for nationalistic reasons, while others wanted to remain Orthodox, which was the faith of their fathers before Uniatism was forced on them by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Orthodox in that region are very staunchly Orthodox.
David12/23/2020 7:18 am
Did the "Uniates" just seize them? Or was it rather them reclaiming Churches that were taken from them after their Church was suppressed by the Soviet government?
Alex12/22/2020 11:05 pm
Glory be to God!
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