Feognost Bodoryak accused UOC believers of “hostility and refusal to engage in dialogue with the OCU”

Following the incident at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Chernivtsi, during which UOC priests were reportedly severely beaten by supporters of the OCU, the head of the OCU in the Chernivtsi region, Feognost Bodoryak, published a statement addressed to the clergy and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In his message, he called on UOC members to “truthfully turn their lives to God” and “remove the veil from their spiritual eyes.” According to Bodoryak, he feels “pastoral responsibility for the development of the Local Orthodox Church in Bukovina and for the spiritual benefit and growth of every Orthodox believer.” He also emphasized his intention to complete the ongoing process: “the path initiated by the faithful and the community will be completed, and prayer in the leading shrine of Orthodox Bukovinians will be conducted in the fold of the OCU.” The statement was published on the website of the Chernivtsi Diocese of the OCU.

Accusing the UOC of “un-Christian behavior” and “promoting the heresy of the ‘Russian world’,” Bodoryak expressed regret over the lack of dialogue: “Many times, while carrying out my ministry at the See of Bukovinian Bishops, I called and invited you, bishops and fathers, to engage in dialogue, but received no response. Only a few conscientious priests responded to these appeals.” He also noted alienation from UOC priests, who, according to him, “try not even to notice members of the OCU.”

In conclusion, Bodoryak accused UOC representatives of fostering “a spirit of enmity” and warned of consequences: “And now you are afraid that the people, raised by you in the spirit of hatred, will condemn any attempt at communication or meeting with us, Christians, and brand you with the same mark you taught them to use.”

“Do not be with spiritually blinded eyes! For the state protects the spiritual sphere in Ukraine not from Jesus Christ—after all, no one is prohibited from confessing Christ as Savior and God—but from the encroachments and influence of Russia, its chauvinist heresy, and imperialism,” Bodoryak concluded.

It should be recalled that among the group of raiders who attempted the unsuccessful seizure of the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the Chernivtsi Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the biological uncle of OCU head Epiphaniy Dumenko — Ivan Chokalyuk — was identified. Chokalyuk, acting as a «chaplain» of the OCU, was among the first to enter the cathedral’s utility premises while the raiders were assaulting UOC priests.