The OCU, in violation of the Tomos, established a “mission” in the Czech Republic

Ukrainian schismatics have formed a “chaplaincy mission” on the canonical territory of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. The actual parish of the OCU in the Czech Republic will operate in the city of Brno, and the first religious event was held on August 23, 2025. The OCU is not deterred by the fact that the opening of parishes abroad is directly prohibited by the “Tomos of Autocephaly,” which provides for the organization to operate only within Ukraine. This was reported by the Orthodox Christianity website.

It is noteworthy that the OCU established its mission in Brno, where the ruling hierarch is Bishop Isaiah (Slaninka) of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. This bishop is known for his loyalty to the Ukrainian schism and even concelebrated with the head of the OCU several years ago. Bishop Isaiah took this step despite the fact that the Czech and Slovak Church does not recognize the OCU, considering it a schismatic and non-canonical structure.

However, since the Czech Republic is the canonical territory of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, such actions on the part of the Ukrainian schism are not only a violation of the Tomos, but also a de facto aggressive invasion of the boundaries of another Local Church.

We previously reported that the OCU, which claims equal status among the Local Orthodox Churches, continues to violate its own Tomos and interfere in the canonical territory of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church. This time, despite the Tomos’ prohibition on the OCU’s activities abroad, on February 9, 2025, the head of the Rivne Diocese of the OCU, Hilarion Protsyk, visited Warsaw, where he performed religious services that were clearly not agreed upon with the PAOC. It is also worth noting that a representative of the local diocese of the Roman Catholic Church participated in the event.