Kremenchuk, Poltava Province, Ukraine, December 30, 2024
Photo: kremen-eparh.org Godless representatives of the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine have seized another Orthodox cathedral, this time in Kremenchuk, Poltava Province.
“All of this happened with the tacit consent of law enforcement,” the Kremenchuk Diocese reports.
“They broke down the royal doors of the iconostasis and entered the altar; one of the OCU activists went through the doors and looked around inside, although according to Church canons, only priests and their assistants are allowed to enter the altar,” the diocese continues.
As is typical for them, the OCU members were aggressive, rude, and vulgar.
“These raiders, who don’t believe in God, are people who divide society and sow religious discord,” the diocese laments.
The whole process of seizing the church was led by Archimandrite Theodosy Ovcharuk, who, as an apostate from the Orthodox Church, has been banned from serving.
“According to the Kremenchuk Diocese, among those who came to seize the church, there was not a single parishioner or person with any connection to the church.”
The parish community of the seized Holy Dormition Cathedral reported on Facebook that the physical seizure was prefaced by the illegal re-registration of the church in July. While the church has hundreds of active parishioners, a document with a mere 26 signatures of people having no relation to the church was submitted to the authorities, and on that basis the cathedral was taken away from the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The church also writes about the state of the schismatic OCU in the area:
Not far from the Dormition Cathedral, there’s an OCU church that’s constantly closed, in a neglected state both outside and inside. The territory is unkempt, and dirty rags hang on the windows. Liturgies are held once a week, for some reason starting at 12:00, and there are no evening services at all. This is the liturgical life of the OCU raiders.
The Holy Dormition UOC religious community consists of several hundred parishioners, not 26 like in the OCU.
It’s clear why the OCU invaders want the Holy Dormition Cathedral. The OCU church needs maintenance, decoration, and improvements, but why do that when there’s a well-maintained UOC church across the railroad tracks? According to their logic, it’s better to take away the UOC community’s church than to do anything for their own church. Where you haven’t labored is always better. The UOC community has more parishioners, the church is in good condition, and services are held daily. Better to seize the UOC church so it can stand closed and people won’t have a place to pray, rather than develop their own OCU church.
From the actions of OCU supporters, one gets the impression that they’re driven only by envy. The OCU church is closed because people don’t attend it, so the UOC church must be closed too.
Doing anything themselves isn’t what OCU raiders are about—it’s better to take from others than to beautify their own.
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