Participant in seizure of UOC Cathedral in Cherkasy dislikes OCU's "service"

Dmytro Kukharchuk. Photo: Facebook

Radical activist Dmytro Kukharchuk, one of the participants in the storming of the St. Michael's Cathedral of the UOC in Cherkasy, shared his impressions of the first "service" of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) in the seized cathedral. In a post on his Facebook page, he mentioned that he had officially become a parishioner of the OCU but was left disappointed with how the service was organized and criticized the atmosphere of the cathedral.

"Today, I attended a service at St. Michael's Cathedral, which finally, after a bloody confrontation, has come under teh jurisdiction of the Ukrainian church. I officially registered as its parishioner," Kukharchuk wrote. However, he disapproved of the atmosphere during the "service": "The depressive atmosphere, full of a philosophy of suffering bundled with negative vibes, which has been feeding the walls of the cathedral for years, in no way encourages, nor will it encourage, the youth to join."

Kukharchuk also underscores that Ukraine needs a "national church, not a Ukrainian replica of the Russian Orthodox Church." He believes services should bring joy and inspiration, rather than evoke gloom. "We need a place where communion with God brings joy, not a choice between a desire to shoot yourself or hang yourself," he added.

In addition, Kukharchuk called for changes in the way services are organized: "Seats, beautiful music, sermons full of modern meaning and answers to questions instead of completely incomprehensible hymns – these are the first steps that should be taken."

He also pointed out the importance of both the content and the form of church services: "Undoubtedly, you will say that the content is more important than the form, and you will be right. But the form acts as an element of marketing, without which Ukrainians simply won't seek spirituality or come to God."

As the UOJ previously reported, Kukharchuk had earlier expressed frustration that the cathedral in Cherkasy was seized without the help of local residents.

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