Khmelnytskyi bishop: People who voted for joining OCU do not go to churches

The temples of the Khmelnytskyi Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church seized by supporters of the OCU are empty or closed, said Archbishop Victor (Kotsaba) of Khmelnytskyi and Starokostiantyniv in an interview with the UOC Information and Education Department.

"Our churches in the city of Khmelnytskyi and in general in the Khmelnytskyi region have always been full of people," the bishop said. “And when these churches were transferred to another denomination, were seized (let us say, as it really is), it turned out that people did not go there at all".

Vladyka noted that activists who sought the transfer of churches to the OCU often do not go to these churches.

"There were always a lot of people at the Intercession Cathedral. And when we see photos where there are few people at the ‘service’, it surprises me. The question arises: where are all the people who voted for the transfer? There were a lot of them at the time. Where did they come from? Were they residents of Khmelnytskyi at all, or were they people from other cities, or perhaps even from other regions? Why don't they go to church?" asks the archbishop.

He said that after the seizure of St George's Church in Khmelnytskyi, one of the most beautiful temples in the city, there was no "worship service" there even on St Patron’s Day.

"Why was it necessary to take the temple away from people then? If we had a service there, there would have been 700-800 worshippers. It was like that every year," the archbishop stressed.

As reported, on the feast day of St. Theodosius of the Caves, the Refectory Church of Sts Anthony and Theodosius as well as the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra were closed.

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