Cherkasy Eparchy comments on armed incident in Smila church

The Intercession Church of the UOC in the town of Smila. Photo: UOJ

On March 27, 2022, a scandalous incident occurred during the Divine Liturgy in the Intercession Church in the town of Smila, Cherkasy region. Armed people pushed Hieromonk Vasily (Miroshnichenko), a confessor of the Smila Deanery, out of the church.

On the official website of the Cherkasy Eparchy, the spokesperson for the eparchy, Archpriest Vasily Vozniuk, commented on the incident. We publish his statement in full:

“In recent weeks, several priests from Smila, without consulting and informing their brothers – the majority of the clergy of the Smila Deanery and their own parishioners, began to incite one another to schismatic actions. Unfortunately, in the first steps of this movement, they were able to take advantage of the infirmity of the rector of the church and Dean of Smila, Archpriest Petro Dmitruk, and hiding behind his authority, they developed a schism. Some of them with repentance stepped aside from schismatic actions after a few days. At the same time, almost every day, delegations of the overwhelming majority of the faithful clergy and laity of the Smila Deanery, who disagreed with the position of the schismatics, came to the eparchy with tearful requests to stop this discord in Smila.

As a result, the mission to instruct and reassure the schismatics was entrusted to Hieromonk Vasily (Miroshnichenko), the long-term confessor of the Smila Deanery, whom all the priests love and respect, to whom these people themselves confessed all the time.

What happened, however, was that at the Sunday Liturgy, outside armed men were brought into the church, who, at the behest of one of the schismatic priests, despite the resistance and tears of the parishioners, threw Father Vasily out of the church.

These armed men are now "on duty" outside the church. At the same time, Father Petro, the rector and dean of Smila, was not present at this action as he has been on sick leave for the last week. Yesterday, when I called him, he, confused and weak, seeing that he could no longer cope with the situation and that jokes with the schism did no good, asked me to relieve him of the burden of responsibility and to let him retire. His request was met, I personally took to Father Petro the decrees signed afterwards to relieve him of his duties and thanked him for his many years of service. We had a talk and he promised to do everything in his power to keep these several priests from schism.

At the same time, the main schismatic priest, Father Nikolai Seredich, who incited armed men to use violence against the confessor of the Smila Deanery, was banned from the priesthood while the case is being considered by the Eparchial Church Court. We hope that he will accept his temporary suspension with humility and will not again agitate people by tearing the Chiton of Christ, at a time when it is already hard and fearful for the people to bear the burden of war.

And the injured father, the confessor of the Smila Deanery Hieromonk Vasily, is alive and well, thanking God for the opportunity to suffer a little for His truth. He continues to serve and confess the clergy of the Smila Deanery.”

As reported, the priest of the Cherkasy Eparchy, Archpriest Roman Lychak, was banned from the priesthood for betraying the Church.

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