Cherkasy, Cherkasy Province, Ukraine, March 14, 2025
Photo: Cherkasy Diocese
Less than 10% of clerics of the persecuted Cherkasy Diocese of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church have left for the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”
That is, only 15 out of 200 clerics have left, while 30 priests have been ordained recently, His Eminence Metropolitan Theodosy of Cherkasy said at a clergy meeting on March 12, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists with reference to the diocese’s Telegram channel.
Thus, the number of clergy has only grown under persecution, Met. Theodosy said, adding that he is proud of his clergy who have remained faithful.
Those who left have changed dramatically, becoming aggressive and denouncing their former brethren to the state security services, the Metropolitan said.
According to Met. Theodosy, two departed priests have expressed a desire to return to the Church, though the hierarch stipulated that they do so publicly, just as they left publicly, “bringing temptation to the flock.”
His Eminence believes that most of those who left will eventually return. He also looks forward to the end of the present persecution: “One morning we’ll wake up in a different society, and everything will be in its place. And we’ll go to our open, wide-open churches, our parishioners will return, and all will be well. But until then, we need to endure.”
Cherkasy was the scene of a particularly violent and bloody church seizure in October that left Met. Theodosy and dozens of others in need of hospital care. The hierarch is also being personally targeted by the state with fabricated criminal charges, and he has been held under house arrest at different times for more than a year.
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