Pro-Constantinople media outlet reports on Chernivtsi cathedral raid

Screenshot from the Orthodox Times article. Photo: orthodoxtimes.com

On June 19, 2025, the website orthodoxtimes.com, known for its consistent support of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, published an article covering the seizure of the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in Chernivtsi.

Citing sources from Kyiv, the publication reports that the UOC church in Chernivtsi was violently seized by a group of raiders.

The journalists described how masked young men with covered faces – whose behavior resembled street thugs more than Orthodox faithful – attacked parishioners near the cathedral walls.

In one scene captured on video, the attackers are seen beating a man and then dragging him along the ground. Among the victims was also a priest fleeing from the enraged mob.

According to sources in Kyiv, the media outlet reports, such incidents are described as a recurring tactic. “They send groups of young people unrelated to the Church, essentially hired hooligans, to attack believers of churches under the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Onufry’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” Orthodox Times quotes its source.

The article states that the city authorities of Chernivtsi made the decision to transfer the cathedral to the OCU. Meanwhile, the clergy of the OCU have been actively involved in or even encouraging acts of violence.

The publication also highlighted a post by a well-known raider from Bukovyna and OCU representative, Roman Hryshchuk, who called the UOC a “sect of the Moscow Patriarchate” and posted an image depicting the execution of “orcs,” captioning it with the question: “Why we still tolerate this Church?”

Earlier, the UOJ reported that a pro-Phanar media outlet had written about Patriarch Bartholomew’s growing disappointment with the OCU.

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