Rector of UOC Rynhach church needs medical treatment after beating – media

The beaten rector of the church in Rynhach. Photo: t.me/orthobuk

The rector of the UOC church seized in Rynhach, Chernivtsi Region – Archpriest Serafim Dumytrovych – made it home after being beaten by supporters and is receiving treatment, the press service of the Chernivtsi Eparchy reported.

“As of 16:30, the rector of the Church of the Ascension of the Lord in the village of Rynhach (UOC), thank God, made it home,” the statement said.

By way of reminder, on May 20, 2023, at 9:00 a.m., armed OCU representatives, after beating a priest and two parishioners, seized the Ascension church of the UOC in the village of Rynhach.

“The rector, together with the church warden and another believer, locked themselves inside the church. The raiders broke down the church door, then tore off the metal grille and entered the church. Inside the church, the raiders struck the rector in the face, splitting his lip, threw him to the floor, and began kicking him. During the beating, Fr. Serafim’s phone was smashed. A hard drive containing surveillance-camera footage that recorded the crime was taken,” the statement added.

“A little later the raiders will tell the police that they injured Fr. Serafim’s lip while prying the grille at the entrance to the church. And OCU supporters from the village of Rynhach even told the police that Fr. Serafim himself struck the grille seven times. Shortly afterward an ambulance arrived to provide Archpriest Serafim with medical assistance. We assume that the organizer of the seizure was a citizen named Roman Hryshchuk, who presents himself as a priest but is not one,” the eparchy press service noted.

“Do OCU supporters really think that by such actions they glorify God and do His will? If so, then the OCU has a different god – not the same as in the canonical Orthodox Church!” the statement concluded.

As the UOJ previously reported, OCU supporters seized a UOC church in Rynhach.

Read also