OCU cleric spreads false story UOC clergy would not bury fallen AFU soldier

Funeral service for a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Ascension Church of the village of Banyliv-Pidhirnyi. Photo: "Faithful of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Diocese of the UOC"

Bukovynian OCU cleric Roman Hryshchuk claimed on Facebook that the rector of the UOC Ascension Church in the village of Banilov-Pidhirnyi refused to serve the funeral rite for the fallen soldier Valentyn Faliboha. Hryshchuk’s lie was widely circulated by Ukrainian media.

According to the OCU cleric, “the priests of the Moskovian Patriarchate did not allow the soldier to be buried in the church of Banilov-Pidhirnyi, so the soldier had to be buried in the House of Culture.”

“OCU priests today once again opened their brotherly arms to you, offering a joint prayer! And you spat on it! And you also lied, claiming it was you who buried the soldier,” Hryshchuk said.

In reality, after the OCU clergy performed their rite in the House of Culture, the fallen soldier’s family wanted the funeral service to be held in the UOC church. As reported by the group “Faithful of the Chernivtsi–Bukovyna Eparchy of the UOC,” on December 30 the funeral rite was led by the dean of the Storozhynets district, Archpriest Vasyl Kovalchuk, in the church dedicated to the Ascension of the Lord, concelebrated by the rector of the church, Priest Yaroslav Kucheruk, and clergy of the eparchy.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that in the Romanian monastery of Putna, UOC clergy prayed for the repose of AFU soldiers.

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