In Khotyn, 800 parishioners of another community votes for loyalty to UOC
800 parishioners of St. Nicholas Parish voted for loyalty to the UOC. Photo: Chernivtsi Eparchy
On March 2, 2025, after the Divine Liturgy on Forgiveness Sunday, the parishioners of St. Nicholas Church in the Bukovynian town of Khotyn officially reaffirmed their allegiance to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) under His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry. A video of the gathering was published on the Telegram channel of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Eparchy on March 14.
The religious community dedicated to St. Nicholas unanimously voted to remain within the UOC.
The diocesan press service reminded that on March 1, a group of 490 individuals who are not parishioners of the church voted at the Alley of Glory in Khotyn for the change of jurisdiction of the UOC’s Pokrovsky and St. Nicholas parishes.
"The information being spread online that the parishioners of St. Nicholas Church did not express their will is not true," the statement read.
According to the Cherkasy Eparchy, 800 signatures were collected from the faithful members of the UOC religious community.
As the UOJ previously reported, on March 1, 2025, 1,300 Orthodox Christians of the UOC’s Intercession Church in Khotyn unanimously confirmed their desire to remain within the UOC.
Read also
U.S. House of Representatives passes ban on sex-change surgeries for minors
The lower house of Congress supported an initiative limiting medical interventions that could have irreversible consequences for the health of minors.
Armenian Church to appeal to international bodies over government pressure
The decision was made by the Supreme Spiritual Council in Etchmiadzin against the backdrop of criminal cases, pressure on the clergy, and the state's attempts to interfere in church life.
Pashinyan's supporters attempt to storm Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Armenia
The confrontation around the Armenian Apostolic Church intensified after rebellious hierarchs called for the Catholicos's resignation and attempted to exert forceful pressure in Etchmiadzin.
Persecuted community of Maliatyntsi celebrates first patronal feast after seizure
In Bukovyna, the faithful of the St. Nicholas community in the village of Maliatyntsi celebrated the Feast Day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra in Lycia for the first time after the church seizure.
European authorities downplay scale of Christian persecution, report says
Human rights defenders reported an increase in attacks on believers in the EU and pointed out that official statistics do not reflect the real level of anti-Christian hostility.
Mukachevo Eparchy bishops congratulate orphaned children on St Nicholas Day
Metropolitan Theodore and Bishop Hilarion visited the “New Family” children’s shelter in Uzhhorod.