About emptineess in seized Cherkasy cathedral on Intercession Feast
“Service” of the OCU in the Cherkasy Cathedral seized from the UOC on the Intercession Feast. Photo: OCU
On October 1, in the Archangel Michael Cathedral in Cherkasy – seized by Dumenko’s supporters from the UOC, with gunfire, violence, blood, and tears – the OCU held its “service.”
According to the New Calendar, it was the Feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, one of the most beloved and venerated holidays in Ukraine. It is also the Day of Defenders and Protectresses (moved by the authorities from October 14 to follow the Feast of the Protection).
Expectation: The cathedral, labeled by the OCU as “garrison,” should have been overflowing with praying people on such a double celebration.
Reality: In the huge church, there were at most twenty people. The OCU press service tried to take only close-up shots so that the emptiness would not be visible. But despite all efforts, “telling” frames still slipped through, showing the true picture: without the bused-in crowds, no one goes to the seized cathedral.
Meanwhile, the account of its violent seizure has entered UN and other human rights reports as evidence of the disgrace taking place in our country under the banner of “freedom of religion.”
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