Hertsa, Chernivtsi Province, Ukraine, August 14, 2025
Photo: Bancheny Monastery
His Eminence Metropolitan Longin of Bancheny, who has adopted hundreds of children since 1992 and was previously recognized as a Hero of Ukraine, has been prohibited from taking any more children under his care or acting as guardian for those already at his monastery’s orphanage.
Following a court session in Hertsa District Court in Bukovina on August 12, Met. Longin revealed that while the investigation against him continues, he is not permitted to protect or take custody of orphans. The court has denied permission for both him and the monastery brotherhood to take children or disabled individuals into their care, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists.
“The court in Hertsa refuses to allow children to be placed under guardianship. They refuse everyone. As a criminal, I no longer have the right,” the Metropolitan stated in a video address published by the Bancheny Monastery’s YouTube channel.
The restrictions extend beyond new adoptions. The Metropolitan is effectively stripped of his ability to protect and care for children currently residing in the orphanage. He cannot even accompany them to medical facilities, and any surgical procedures require the signature of a legal guardian—a role he is now prevented from fulfilling.
Met. Longin and Holy Ascension Monastery have operated their orphanage since 1992, when the hierarch, then known as Hieromonk Mikhail, adopted a six-month-old girl with AIDS. Over the decades, he has adopted hundreds of children, many with illnesses and disabilities, earning him formal recognition as a Hero of Ukraine.
The Metropolitan faces trumped-up charges of allegedly supporting Russian military aggression and inciting religious enmity—charges similar to those brought against several other hierarchs of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
“Today the time has come that we don’t have the right to live in this state, to have the rights that everyone has. We need to endure a little more. The Lord will deliver us from enemies, visible and invisible,” Met. Longin said in his statement.
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