“Parishes that do not exist”: The UOC community of Mikhailivka village

Believers of the UOC village of Mikhailivka. Photo: screen video

In the framework of the project “Parishes that do not exist”, launched by Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Diocese, the religious community of the UOC of Mikhailivka village, Hlyboka District, Chernivtsi Region, whom the activists of the OCU expelled from the church on February 3, 2019 after the illegal voting of the territorial community, performed the carol “May the Infant God bless your life” congratulating all Orthodox on the bright holiday of the Nativity of Christ.

“We are a religious community of Mikhailovka village. It has already been a year since our temple was seized but, with God's help, you see – we are living, we live our life, we are building a temple and we are very, very happy about it! We want to congratulate everyone who watches us, who helps us, on Merry Christmas. Christ is born! Glory to Him!” said the believers in their video message, published on the page of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Diocese on Facebook.

The diocese noted that the community of Mikhailivka, following the example of the communities in the villages of Horoshivtsi and Boyanchuk, turned the “Shevchenko” hut into a church, "where even the holy banners cannot be installed, as the ceilings are too low," and has been holding divine services here for almost a year.

"What's next? Such sad events, melancholy over the seized temple, where so much effort was paid to its decoration, did not become a burden and a reason to give up. The community decided to build a new temple and not only decided but is also building; not only building but has already gilded domes and ordered an iconostasis. We asked the parishioners: perhaps Epiphany Dumenko helps you build a temple? They answered us: he was never seen on the construction site, but instead on February 3, 2019, we saw a “dean” of the OCU with his supporters coming to take over the temple; the community witnessed and remembers this fact very well,” the diocesan press service emphasized.

Recall that on February 3, 2019, activists of the OCU drove the community of the UOC of Mikhailivka village of out of the local temple, based on the results of the vote the day before. Voting on the transfer of the community of the canonical church to the OCU was held at a meeting of the territorial community, which was attended by both local residents (most of whom do not go to the church), and people who had been brought from neighboring villages. To replace the temple seized by the supporters of the OCU, the community began to build a new one, and on January 2, 2020, it already received 5 golden domes for it.

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