What was Cherkasy Cathedral seized for? Concerts?
A concert at the Cherkasy Cathedral. Photo: KozakTv1
Not long ago, this church, where the relics of the Holy Martyr Macarius of Ovruch rest, echoed with prayer, and the number of worshippers was so great that there was hardly room to stand. Now, Ukraine's largest cathedral is almost empty, and attracting people requires spectacles.
Let us recall the slogans under which both the Cherkasy Cathedral and many other churches were seized from the UOC and transferred to the OCU. We were told that these holy sites would finally be freed from “Moscow captivity” and returned to the “true” Ukrainian faithful. That prayers in the "proper" Ukrainian language would replace those in "Russian" Church Slavonic.
There is another important aspect to this situation. When government officials turned the Refectory Church of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra into a venue for a culinary show, followed by folk songs and dancing, even some members of the OCU admitted it was too much and said so publicly. But back then, they blamed the authorities, who legally own the Lavra.э
However, the Cherkasy Cathedral is a different story. Officials have no ties to this church. It was not "returned to the state" – this was outright raiding: taken from the UOC and handed over to the OCU. Control now lies not with the authorities but with Epifaniy Dumenko’s associates. Yet what’s happening there is no different from what’s occurring in the "state-owned" Lavra or other "returned" shrines.
And as one watches this unfold, a single question lingers: What was it all for? Is this why you staged a smash-up in the Cherkasy Cathedral? Is this why you shot at parishioners, beat the metropolitan, and once again "glorified" Ukraine worldwide?
Even Filaret, with all his eccentricities, never thought of hosting concerts in St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral. Perhaps he was stopped by the thought of the relics of the Great Martyr Barbara. The new "owners" of the Cherkasy Cathedral, however, seem not restrained by anything.
Read also
Do Ukrainians without heat and eeectricity really do nothing but rejoice and dance?
The head of the UGCC has repeatedly criticized the U.S. plan for achieving peace. And now he speaks as though Ukrainians are ready to endure the war for as long as necessary – they are being ground down, and yet they do nothing but sing and dance.
When every UOC church in Lviv Region is shut down – is that “freedom of faith”?
In Galicia, the authorities have effectively outlawed the UOC and are hunting down “underground” services – while in the United States they solemnly insist that no one in Ukraine is persecuted for their faith.
Why Epifaniy’s “piety” justifies Patriarch Bartholomew’s hopes
The Phanar is convinced that Dumenko “stands firmly and unshakably on spiritual heights.”
Dumenko’s “dialogue” appeal to the UOC: sincerity or strategy?
If the OCU truly wanted dialogue, it would decide to halt seizures and return what was taken.
Where did the circus go? It was here just yesterday
At an Orthodox Church of Ukraine “service” with Epifaniy (Dumenko) in the seized cathedral in Volodymyr, there are people. But the very next day – without Epifaniy – there are no people.
Why instigators of hatred against the UOC should be in prison
Churches were not built for one state to defeat another, not for the triumph of an “Ukrainian spirit,” and not for the “spirit” of any other nation.