Cherkasy, Cherkasy Province, Ukraine, October 22, 2024
Photo: Cherkasy Diocese Telegram
After the godless schismatics of the “Orthodox Church in Ukraine” went on a violent rampage through the Archangel Michael Cathedral last week, a longtime social ministry at the church came to a halt.
On October 17, OCU militants attacked the church twice, brandishing gas pistols and tear gas, which they used against the peacefully praying Orthodox Christians. They also brutally beat His Eminence Metropolitan Theodosy, who suffered a concussion and corneal burns.
Since the OCU was created by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in 2018, its representatives have violently seized hundreds of churches from Orthodox Christians in Ukraine. In many cases, the churches have simply stood empty after being taken, because all the believers remain faithful to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
And in the case of the Cherkasy Cathedral, the OCU canceled services at its other churches in the area to try to increase the turnout at the violently stolen cathedral.
However, one of the Orthodox Church’s important social ministries run through the cathedral did not take place as usual on Sunday.
For years, the Orthodox Sisters of Mercy in Cherkasy have prepared and fed hundreds of hot meals to the poor and needy at the cathedral every Sunday.
However, this past Sunday, “no one distributed hot lunches near the cathedral, no one provided spiritual support to people, no one spent time with these people. And they need so little—attention and a bit of warmth,” writes the canonical Cherkasy Diocese of the UOC.
“They didn't seize the cathedral to carry out the Orthodox mission and Christian love!” the diocese continues.
“How much goodness and mercy left the cathedral grounds along with the true believers...
God be your judge...”
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