Death to enemies: Outsiders transfer three UOC temples to OCU in Chernivtsi

Fake meeting in Chernivtsi for the transfer of three UOC churches at once. Photo: Facebook Centrul Media BucPress Cernăuți

On February 16, 2025, in Chernivtsi, a crowd of unknown individuals, led by several OCU clerics, held a meeting outside the fence of the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the UOC to "transfer" three churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church at once: the Holy Spirit Cathedral, St. Nicholas Cathedral, and the Saints Peter and Paul Church. The illegal meeting was broadcast by the Romanian TV channel Centrul Media BucPress Cernăuți.

During the event, several hundred believers of the actual UOC Holy Spirit Cathedral community prayed inside the church. Accordingly, none of them participated in the gathering.

At the meeting, led by the "prominent Chernivtsi resident" Ivan Derda, those present, holding flags of Ukraine and the OUN-UPA, voted in a single package for all three main churches of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Eparchy of the UOC. The head of the local OCU diocese, Theognost Bodoryak, was appointed as the new head of the Holy Spirit Cathedral.

The OCU cleric and registrar of the Chernivtsi Regional Military Administration, Mykola Herheliuk, was tasked with handling the registration. After the event, Herheliuk shouted, "Glory to the nation!" to which the crowd responded, "Death to the enemies!"

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the OCU had announced the "transfer" of the UOC cathedral in Chernivtsi.

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