Dumenko rewards his cleric who raided a UOC church at night in Bukovyna

Dumenko and Hryshchuk. Photo: Hryshchuk’s Facebook page

The leader of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Epifaniy Dumenko, awarded his Bukovynian cleric Roman Hryshchuk, who had been involved in the nighttime break-in of the UOC’s St. Nicholas Church in Verkhni Stanivtsi, as well as in orchestrating fraudulent transfers of UOC parishes to the OCU.

Dumenko gifted Hryshchuk a valuable copy of his book "With God – Victory."

"We had a fruitful conversation with our spiritual father, the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epifaniy! We discussed pressing matters concerning the life of our Church," Hryshchuk stated.

Earlier, the UOJ reported on Hryshchuk’s criminal actions in Verkhni Stanivtsi. On the night of April 9, he, along with accomplices (in whose possession police later found five knives), broke down the church doors and barricaded themselves inside. After parishioners expelled them, he returned with reinforcements and on April 12 seized the church completely.

Prior to these events, on February 3, Hryshchuk had organized a fraudulent "parish meeting" involving outsiders, during which, despite the parishioners' protests, he "transferred" the St. Nicholas Church to the OCU.

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