OCU manages to get only five UOC communities in Odesa region

The Odesa Regional State Administration reported that since 2019, only five religious communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have been re-registered in favor of the OCU. At the same time, the Odesa Diocese of the OCU states that it is ready to accept other UOC communities in the region. This is reported by the regional edition “Intent”.

It is reported that as of May 2025, only five religious communities of the UOC have been re-registered in the Odesa region in favor of the OCU. The first to undergo the re-registration procedure were the religious communities of the UOC in the villages of Puzhaykovo, Balta district, and Sarata. At the end of October 2024, the community of the village of Kontseba, Podil district, joined the OCU along with its rector. In March 2025, the head of the Vinnytsia Diocese of the OCU, Simeon Shostatsky, received the rector of the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica from the village of Dakhtalia into the OCU. The last religious community to be re-registered to the OCU was the one in the village of Stari Broskivtsi.

As reported earlier, the Odesa Eparchy of the OCU announced plans to build a new cathedral in Odesa. The Holy Trinity Cathedral will be located on the site of the Central Garrison Church destroyed in 1917 in the Cosmonauts Park. As of today, supporters of the OCU hold religious events in the former Sputnik cinema, which is located at the same place. For this purpose, the Odesa City Council transferred a 0.25-hectare plot of land to the OCU community and approved the relevant documentation. The OCU expects patrons to help them build the church.