Cherkasy, Cherkasy Province, Ukraine, December 21, 2023
Photo: news.church.ua
After eight months of round-the-clock house arrest, His Eminence Metropolitan Theodosy of Cherkasy of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, has returned to his pastoral ministry.
Met. Theodosy is one of the many Orthodox hierarchs facing personal persecution from Ukrainian authorities, in addition to the campaign against the entire Church.
The hierarch was initially placed under house arrest, accused of inciting religious enmity, for two months, but his detention was continually extended by the courts. But according to today’s decision of the Cherkasy Court, Met. Theodosy now has a great deal more freedom, though he remains under nighttime house arrest, reports the Information-Education Department of the UOC.
His Eminence gave thanks to God, the Most Holy Theotokos, and St. Nicholas in a statement following the court session. “We have gone through these eight months together,” he told his flock. “We have worried, prayed, and sorrowed, and now we’re rejoicing together.”
Immeditaly after leaving the court, the hierarch and faithful went to the Archangel Michael Cathedral to celebrate a molieben of thanksgiving before the relics of St. Makarios of Kanev.
Interestingly, the alleviation of his detention comes just days after a new charge of inciting religious enmity was brought against him. However, it also comes two weeks after UN human rights activists met with Met. Theodosy to discuss the persecution against the Church. The UN and other international organizations and Western media outlets and personalities have increasingly been discussing the persecution of the UOC as antithetical to human rights lately.
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