20 UOC priests transferred to the Romanian Patriarchate - mass media

20 clergymen of the Chernivtsi Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have announced their transfer to the Romanian Patriarchate. It is reported that the clergy of the UOC were forced to take such a step due to the fact that in Bukovyna there is virtually no protection from the raider actions of the OCU, which, in the last few months, has been especially active in seizing the temples of the canonical Church. The information was published on the Telegram channel of the Union of Orthodox Journalists.

“Yesterday it became known that a group of clergy of the Chernivtsi Diocese of the UOC decided to transfer to the jurisdiction of the Romanian Patriarchate. As the journalists of our publication managed to find out from their own sources, 20 priests (initially there were 26) held a meeting, which was known to the diocesan leadership. At this meeting, it was decided to transfer to the Romanian Orthodox Church. […] To understand the motives, one must take into account the context of the situation in Bukovyna. This decision was mostly made by Ukrainian priests. Romanian-speaking priests, who serve in almost all parishes with a Romanian population, did not express such a desire. Why? The answer is simple: on the territory of the Bukovyna Eparchy of the UOC, there is a systematic lawlessness on the part of representatives of the OCU, primarily Roman Hryshchuk. These actions are not only ignored by the authorities, but in many cases are covered up and even initiated by them. The priests realize that if nothing is done, Hryshchuk’s raider group will sooner or later come to them. And it was out of a sense of self-preservation that they made this decision,” – the UOJ noted.

At the same time, according to the publication’s sources in the Romanian Patriarchate, it is not about the actual approval of the Romanian vicariate in Ukraine or the beginning of the activities of the Romanian Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Similarly, the Romanian Orthodox Church is not going to recognize the OCU in the near future.

“According to our sources inside the Romanian Orthodox Church, the issue of establishing a vicariate is not currently being considered. Firstly, because the Ukrainian state refused to legalize such a structure on the terms proposed by the Romanians. The head of the GESS, V. Yelensky, made it clear: the vicariate can only be created within the OCU, but not as a separate structure that is not subordinate to Dumenko. Secondly, our source in the Romanian Orthodox Church noted that even if the vicariate is created in the future, it will be created exclusively with the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry, who is highly respected among the faithful, clergy, and bishops of Romania,” – the media added.

As reported, on March 27, 2025, at a working session of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the issue of the possibility of returning some Romanian Orthodox communities in Ukraine to the Romanian Patriarchate was considered. This decision was a response to the initiative of Romanian believers and priests in the Chernivtsi region who expressed a desire to reunite with the Romanian Orthodox Church.