"Metropolitan" of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine: We have over 500 military chaplains

According to the “metropolitan” of Cherkasy and Chyhyryn, Ioan (Yaremenko), the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has been granted over 500 mandates to perform military chaplaincy activities, of which more than 300 “chaplains” serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the rest in the National Guard and Border Service. However, the need for “chaplains” on the front line remains high. He shared this in an interview with the news agency “Ukrinform.”

“The need for chaplains in our Church is no less than six hundred,” noted Yaremenko. He also emphasized that the best example of developing the chaplaincy service today is the National Guard of Ukraine. There, “chaplains” undergo special training and occupy leadership positions in the military chaplaincy services of the units.

However, the “metropolitan” pointed out the difficulties in understanding the importance of military chaplaincy in Ukraine. He believes that post-Soviet education still affects people’s consciousness, creating barriers to a deeper understanding of the role of chaplains in military units.

The hierarch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine also mentioned that consultations are ongoing regarding amendments to the current Ukrainian Law on “Military Chaplaincy Service” to improve and increase the effectiveness of chaplaincy activities.

It is also worth reminding that the scandalously known “chaplain” of the OCU, Roman Gryshchuk, who supervises the raider seizures of churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Bukovina, was awarded the nationwide Ohiienko Prize. The raider became a laureate in the category “Socio-political and Spiritual Activity.”