Priest on persecution of UOC: A state without people is just territory

Priest Serafim Dumitrovych. Photo: Pershyi Kozatskyi

On February 14, 2025, dramatic events unfolded around the UOC's Holy Intercession Church in the Bukovynian town of Hlyboka. Thousands of believers, blocked from reaching the square, gathered to defend their church, Pershyi Kozatskyi reports.

Speaking to the parishioners, UOC priest Serafim Dumitrovych highlighted the paradoxical situation: the authorities are preventing their own citizens from praying.

"When you forbid us, the parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, you are forbidding people, forbidding citizens. A state without people is just territory. And here, Ukrainian citizens have gathered," the priest emphasized.

To demonstrate the absurdity of the situation, he asked everyone with a Ukrainian passport to raise their hand. All those present raised their hands.

"In the church we left today, where a prayer service and voting took place, there were Ukrainians, residents of the community, and parishioners of the church. They clearly and unanimously expressed their desire to remain in the faith in which they were baptized," the priest noted.

He also pointed out that no UOC parishioner violates Ukrainian laws or the Constitution. Yet, the authorities prevent believers from even holding prayers during a procession with the cross and banners.

"If a church is holding a service, with a cross and icons, and a procession is taking place, do not block it, do not forbid people from praying, because believers serve God," the priest urged.

It was especially emphasized that the Holy Intercession Church constantly prays for Ukrainian soldiers, collects aid for defenders, and is always filled with believers during services.

"They never carry out these provocations during services because there are more of us then. In church, people pray," the priest concluded.

Earlier, UOJ reported that nearly a thousand believers in Hlyboka voted to remain loyal to the UOC.

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