Priest on shouting during festive worship: "We saw the power of the cross"

Prayer at the gates of the church in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi. Photo: Dozor

During the Veneration of the Cross service held by the UOC community at the gates of their seized church in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi, activists tried to disrupt the worship, Dozor reports via First Cossack.

As parishioners sang “We venerate Your Cross, O Master,” the activists initially attempted to drown it out with the Ukrainian national anthem, and then began shouting vulgar and obscene language.

After the service, the rector of the Church of the Holy Mandylion, Archpriest Ioann Talapko, addressed the faithful, saying he saw in the activists’ behavior the power of the Cross, which dark spirits cannot bear.

“Just look at how the spiritual world was revealed to us today. If it weren’t real – none of this would be happening. Everything would be quiet. Look how afraid they are of the Cross. How they tremble before the Cross. This is what the Cross is – and what power it holds.”

Journalists reminded readers that UOC parishioners have been gathering weekly for worship outside their seized church for nearly a year.

Earlier, the Union of Orthodox Journalists reported that on the night of May 30, 2024, a group of individuals in military uniform broke into the grounds of the UOC’s Cathedral of the Holy Mandylion in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi, Cherkasy region. They cut off the locks and entered the church. Police were present at the scene but did not intervene.

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