Where did the circus go? It was here just yesterday

Photos from the Dormition Cathedral in Volodymyr, seized from the UOC, taken one day apart. Photo: Orthodox Church of Ukraine

Two photos of the Dormition Cathedral in Volodymyr at Orthodox Church of Ukraine “services,” shot from the same spot, just a day apart. Saturday, January 31 – a “liturgy” led by Epifaniy (Dumenko) – and then a “service” the next day, Sunday, without him. The difference is, quite literally, staring you in the face.

After the head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine came to Volodymyr, their media channels were instantly flooded with photo after photo from the cathedral – and in every frame the church looks crammed. Each post was seasoned with unmistakable gloating aimed at supporters of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church: see, they sneer, so much for your “empty Church of Ukraine.” You claim the churches empty out after these “transfers” to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine? Nonsense. Here’s your “proof.”

And then Epifaniy left.

And with him, as if on cue, the crowd dissolved – the “parishioners” who had been pulled in from across the region, along with the budget-funded contingents assembled by the authorities. The holiday was over; the lights went out; the scenery was hauled off. And the “harsh everyday reality” began.

What did it reveal? A hollow cathedral.

Exactly as in the other cases – the seized cathedrals in Cherkasy, in Bila Tserkva, and elsewhere. In fact, it is enough to look at the photos from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra: when Epifaniy serves there – and when he does not. When he does, people are brought in (and later taken away) by bus. When he does not, in the vast Refectory Church or Dormition Church you can count those present on one hand – maybe a dozen people at most.

So the question almost asks itself: why stage this kind of spectacle? Just to manufacture a glossy media picture? Because a church community is not a stage set. It either exists, or it does not.

People are not fools. They can see perfectly well what is happening.

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