Yurkivtsi, Chernivtsi Province, Ukraine, May 27, 2026
Photo: uoc-news.church
A Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) parish community that lost its church to schismatics three years ago has built a new temple and celebrated its consecration on May 23.
His Eminence Metropolitan Melety of Chernivtsi and Bukovina consecrated the new church of the parish dedicated to the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius in the village of Yurkivtsi, according to the UOC’s Information and Education Department.
The local faithful had lost their original church in March 2023, when the building was seized by supporters of Constantinople’s schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”
Concelebrating with Met. Melety at the consecration and Divine Liturgy were Their Eminences Archbishop Veniamin of Khotyn, Archbishop Athanasy of Kamin-Kashirsky, Archbishop Siluan of Gertsa, His Grace Bishop Iov of Kitsmanand, and local clergy.
Members of the St. Demetrius parish said the day was a particularly significant moment for them after several years of trials and struggle for the right to remain faithful to their Church.
Stories like that of the Yurkivtsi community repeat across Ukraine almost weekly. Despite losing churches to forced seizures, adverse government actions, and the devastation of war, UOC faithful continue to gather for the Divine Liturgy and other services, often in makeshift or newly built spaces, while many of the churches stolen from them stand empty.
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