The media accused the Banchensky Monastery of the UOC of allegedly abusing children

Media reports have surfaced claiming that the children’s home at the Banchensky Monastery in Chernivtsi region, under the care of Metropolitan Longin, allegedly involves harsh treatment of its wards. This information is reported by Espresso.Zahid citing video materials from photographer Edgar Kalancha.

According to journalists and former residents of the orphanage interviewed by photographer Edgar Kalancha during a documentary investigation, the children were allegedly subjected to beatings and forced labor. Police are reportedly currently investigating these claims.

In Kalancha’s film, former wards claim they were allegedly denied medical assistance and subjected to physical violence. One man stated that he “knows very well what it’s like to get hit in the head with a bat of size 43.” The video shows injuries on the hands of one resident who tried to escape, and another interviewee claims she allegedly suffered a broken collarbone but was not taken to hospital because “it would heal on its own.”

According to journalists, the former wards describe their time at Banchensky Monastery as “like a prison” where they lived “like slaves,” and portray Metropolitan Longin as a “nightmare.”

“You would also know how much alcohol is produced and consumed on the monastery grounds in the sauna where Mykhailo Zhar lives. Even His Beatitude Onuphry reportedly visits the sauna on Thursdays, and alcohol is unloaded there at night,” Kalancha cites messages exchanged on social media with one of the children’s home residents.

In an exclusive comment to Espresso.Zahid, Edgar Kalancha stated that after publishing excerpts of the video on Instagram and TikTok, numerous former residents allegedly began contacting him with complaints about violence.

The Chernivtsi Regional Police press service confirmed to Espresso.Zahid that they are verifying the information presented in the documentary.

It is also worth noting that the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Longin (Zhar) of Bancheny, criticized the clergy of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Diocese of the UOC, who recently decided to join the Romanian Orthodox Church. The bishop accused the priests of schism, stating that by deciding to join the Romanian Patriarchate, they betrayed His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy and the entire Orthodox Bukovyna.