OCU falsifies documents to seize UOC cathedral in Cherkasy

St. Michael's Cathedral in Cherkasy. Photo: Unknown Genius

The Kozal1tv Telegram channel published information about a falsified document that supporters of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) are using to attempt to seize St. Michael's Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in Cherkasy.

Attempts to use a standard raider scheme were unsuccessful because the late Metropolitan Sophrony of Cherkasy and Kaniv had previously registered the cathedral as the property of the Cherkasy Eparchy of the UOC, which made it impossible to transfer the church to the jurisdiction of the OCU. In particular, OCU supporters were unable to falsify data about the parish, such as creating a fictitious OCU community named "Nativity of Christ".

In response, Oleh Yaremenko, the head of the Cherkasy Diocese of the OCU, created a new legal entity called "St. Michael's Garrison Community of the Cherkasy Eparchy of the UOC (OCU) of Cherkasy," registered at the same address as the cathedral. This scheme could be used to seize the cathedral, raising questions about the legality of such actions.

As the UOJ reported, Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv thanked the faithful for protecting the St. Michael's Cathedral of the Cherkasy Eparchy of the UOC, as believers successfully defended their sanctuary.

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