"On Sundays and holidays": OCU tells about the future schedule of the Cathedral in Vladimir, which was taken from UOC

The head of the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the OCU, Matviy Shevchuk, spoke about plans to «revive spiritual life» in the Holy Dormition Cathedral of the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which was previously taken away from the UOC by the state and transferred to the OCU. Shevchuk noted that representatives of the OCU will hold religious events in the church taken away from the UOC on Sundays and holidays. He said this in an interview with the regional publication «Rayon».

According to the head of the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the OCU, Matviy Shevchuk, he did not feel the usual spiritual feelings when he first entered the transferred cathedral. «When you enter a cathedral that has been robbed, looted and you do not know what to grab and what to do, how to properly fix everything, the feelings are very unusual. There is no time to think about the eternal,» Shevchuk said.

According to Shevchuk, the diocese is already actively planning the further functioning of the cathedral. He emphasized that this will be a difficult process, since the cathedral and the complex of buildings are transferred directly to the diocese, not to the ready-made parish community. «We need to do everything from scratch. We do not expect that we will be able to establish everything quickly,» he explained.

Bishop Matthew emphasized the gradual nature of all the «transformations» that the OCU has planned for the Assumption Cathedral, which was taken away from the UOC: «Services will be held every Sunday and on holidays. I emphasize that everything is happening gradually. […] We start with small steps. We believe that the Lord will help us.»

It is worth noting that the ancient Holy Dormition Cathedral of Volodymyr, during the period of its ownership by the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, was used for its intended purpose every day. Services performed by UOC priests were accompanied by singing by students of the Volodymyr-Volyn Theological School, which was located on the territory of the cathedral and also lost its premises during the expropriation. In addition, the diocesan administration functioned at the cathedral, which was responsible for organizing the administrative process of the Vladimir-Volyn Diocese of the UOC.

Based on Shevchuk’s statements, it follows that the Vladimir-Volyn Diocese of the OCU will not use the potential of the complex of buildings of the Holy Dormition Cathedral in full. Thus, the question of the need to transfer these premises to the ownership of the OCU remains open.

Earlier, we reported that the religious community of the Holy Dormition Cathedral of the UOC of Volodymyr, whose church was taken away by the state, continues to have a full-fledged liturgical life in a specially adapted building. Previously, the clergy and faithful of the UOC performed services in the open air, in front of the closed doors of the church, which had been their second home for decades.