OCU supporters in Chernivtsi hold secret ballot for re-registration of three more UOC parishes

On May 19, 2025, supporters of the OCU held a secret meeting of the “territorial community” at which they voted to re-register three more urban religious communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in favor of the Ukrainian schism. According to media reports, the meeting was not announced, and the actual members of the UOC religious communities did not take part in what was happening. This is reported by the media.

It is reported that this time the religious communities of the UOC of Chernivtsi in honor of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Basil the Great and St. Seraphim of Sarov were subjected to “wholesale re-registration”. The meeting was held with the sole purpose of taking away the churches of the same name from the UOC believers, which are located in different districts of Chernivtsi.

As we reported earlier, on February 26, 2025, the state registrar of the Lviv Regional State Administration re-registered the Holy Spirit, St. Nicholas and St. Peter and Paul communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to the OCU. Yaroslav (Feognost) Bodoryak, the head of the Chernivtsi Diocese of the OCU, was appointed as the head of these religious organizations. The communities were re-registered despite the fact that the UOC communities had previously held a meeting at which they voted to refuse to change their confessional affiliation.