Persecuted community in Rynhach marks Christmas holidays in house church
The persecuted Ascension parish of the UOC in the village of Rynhach. Photo: Chernivtsi Eparchy
In the Bukovynian village of Rynhach, the faithful together with their rector, Mitred Archpriest Serafim Dumytrovych, celebrated the Nativity of Christ and other feasts in a house church. As believers of the Chernivtsi–Bukovyna Eparchy wrote on Facebook, despite being deprived of access to the Ascension church, the community remained faithful to the canonical Church and continued its liturgical life.
Common prayer in the house church, according to parishioners, became for them a source of consolation, hope, and spiritual support, strengthening the faith and unity of the community in difficult circumstances.
The faithful also published a video about parish life after their shrine was seized.
As the UOJ reported, on May 20, 2023, in the village of Rynhach, a group of raiders led by chaplain Roman Hryshchuk forcibly seized the UOC church. At that time the door was broken in, a metal grille was damaged, and inside the church the attackers brutally beat the parish rector, Archpriest Serafim Dumytrovych, causing him bodily injuries. During the attack, the priest’s phone was smashed, and a hard drive containing surveillance-camera recordings that documented what happened was also taken.
Read also
UK minors as young as four may be allowed to change gender without parental consent
The British Department for Education has presented new guidelines for schools on working with children who are "questioning their gender identity".
Archon of Constantinople proposes convening a Council of Primates
Anastasios Vavuskos proposes overcoming growing disagreements in Orthodoxy through institutional dialogue at the level of the heads of the Local Churches.
OCU cathedral to be built in Lviv on the site of demolished UOC church
Lviv city authorities announced plans to build a cathedra church of an OCU eparchy on the site where a UOC church previously stood.
Moldovan court: Signatures in parish transfer to Romanian Church are forged
The faithful in Derenău obtained a court ruling that documents were falsified during an attempt to move their parish into the Bessarabian Metropolis.
Kharkiv Eparchy clergy serve funeral service for those killed in Bohodukhiv
UOC clergy served a memorial service for the victims of the tragedy in Bohodukhiv, Kharkiv Region.