OCU and UGCC hierarchs hold joint memorial service for UPA soldiers in Ternopil region

In the Ternopil region, representatives of the OCU and the UGCC held a joint religious event in memory of the soldiers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). The memorial service, which took place at the soldiers’ graves, raised questions about the canonical permissibility of joint prayers of different denominations.

According to the press service of the Ternopil Diocese of the OCU on Facebook, the funeral services took place on May 3, 2026, on Kachurova Hill near the village of Sosulivka. They were performed by the head of the Ternopil Diocese of the OCU, Nestor Pysyk, and the head of the Buchach Diocese of the UGCC, Dmytro Hryhorak. The event was dedicated to the memory of the UPA soldiers who died in this area on May 7, 1945.

According to the sources, the practice of joint religious events of the OCU and the UGCC is becoming a characteristic feature of the religious life of the western regions of Ukraine. However, this event caused a wave of criticism on social media. In particular, Facebook users under the publication of the Ternopil Diocese of the OCU expressed dissatisfaction with the fact of “concelebration” with the Uniates, pointing to the violation of church traditions that have developed since the early 1990s.

Earlier, we reported that the former cleric of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), Bohdan Murovany, was officially defrocked and deprived of all rights associated with his clerical status. This decision imposes a complete ban on him from holding any religious events and performing church functions. This decision was made in connection with the fact of the “concelebration” of the said cleric with the head of the Vladimir-Volyn Diocese of the OCU, Matviy Shevchuk.