UOC in Rivne holds charity festival to support children with cancer
Charity festival of the UOC in Rivne. Photo: Rivne Eparchy
With the blessing of Metropolitan Pimen (Voyat), the Rivne Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church held its eighth Christmas charity festival on 23 January 2026 at the “Tekstylnyk” Municipal Palace of Culture in Rivne. According to the Rivne Eparchy press service, the funds collected during the concert will be directed toward the treatment of children with cancer.
More than 20 groups took part in the event – children’s, youth, and young-adult church choirs. Among the guests were ensembles from the Khmelnytskyi and Ternopil eparchies. Special attention from the audience was drawn to the performance of the eparchy’s deanery priests’ choir, conducted by Archpriest Valerii Kapitaniuk. Despite temporary power outages and an air-raid alert, the festival was successfully held and drew a full house.
Metropolitan Pimen noted that the participation of so many young performers is evidence of the Church’s living breath and its future. The festival organizer, Matushka Valentyna Illina, emphasized that such initiatives unite people and fill them with faith and joy. The funds collected – 141,000 hryvnias from ticket sales and 71,000 hryvnias in donations – will be transferred to support children undergoing therapy at the Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital.
As the UOJ reported, warming outlets were opened at churches of the Rivne Eparchy of the UOC.
Read also
Sand for construction of Yermak’s residence brought from cemetery, MP says
MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak said that sand illegally removed from a cemetery in Ukrainka was used in the construction of the elite Dynasty cooperative in Kozyn.
Italian court recognizes family with three parents as legal
In Bari, the appellate court ordered authorities to register an adoption according to which a child is listed as having two "fathers" and one mother.
Archaeologists discover biblical Bethsaida on shore of Sea of Galilee
Researchers have discovered a first-century residential house beneath the apse of a Byzantine church and a mosaic inscription mentioning the Apostle Peter.
Israeli soldiers receive jail terms for mocking statue of the Virgin Mary
Those involved in the act of sacrilege in the village of Debel will spend several weeks behind bars for desecrating a statue of the Mother of God.
Serbian Church officially receives back land of 15th-century monastery
An agreement was signed in Belgrade transferring the territory of the ancient Vojlovica Monastery to the Banat Eparchy.
Pat Daniel comments on conflict between Phanar bishop and community in Turkey
The Bulgarian Primate believes that the hierarch of the Constantinople Patriarchate should not have forced the Bulgarian community in Edirne to serve in Greek.