Community of Chernivtsi Cathedral reaffirms its loyalty to UOC

On February 16, 2025, the religious community of the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the Chernivtsi Diocese of the UOC of Chernivtsi held a parish meeting, at which a majority of votes decided to join the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The event took place against the backdrop of an alternative meeting of the territorial community, which took place on the same day in Chernivtsi, as a result of which the church was allegedly transferred to the OCU. This was reported on the Facebook page of the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the UOC.

“Today, when there is a lot of speculation, provocation and outright lies around church issues, pay attention to the following. In our cathedral, worship is conducted in the Church Slavonic language and partially in Romanian, but not in Russian, as some claim. Our cathedral has nothing to do with the Russian Federation, the aggressor country, and our faithful condemn the war of the Russian Federation against our Ukrainian people. We are actively helping our defenders, the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, many of whom are parishioners of our church. We pray for them because they are defending our homeland. Prayers for the repose of our heroes, who gave their lives for our freedom and for the victory of Ukraine, are always heard here. Our church does not mention Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in any way, because we condemn his attitude to the war unleashed by the Russian Federation. We are the Ukrainian Church of the Ukrainian people and we prove it by our deeds,” — said Metropolitan Meletiy of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna, the rector of the cathedral.

The bishop added that the final documents of the parish meeting will be sent to the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration, the Security Service of Ukraine and the police. Commenting on the gathering of OCU supporters that took place behind the church fence, the bishop said that “impunity breeds lawlessness.”

As we reported earlier, on February 16, 2025, the so-called meeting of the territorial community, initiated by representatives and supporters of the OCU, took place in Chernivtsi. During the event, unidentified persons held a vote, as a result of which three city churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were “transferred” to the OCU. Thus, the Holy Spirit Cathedral, St. Nicholas Cathedral and St. Peter and Paul Church of the Chernivtsi Diocese of the UOC fell under the raider scheme.