Persecuted UOC community in Cherkasy celebrates patronal feast in basement

The Presentation community of the UOC in Cherkasy celebrating its patronal feast in the basement of a residential high-rise building. Photo: press service of the Cherkasy Eparchy of the UOC

On February 15, 2026, on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, the Presentation community of the UOC in Cherkasy, expelled from their church in 2023, celebrated their patronal feast for the third time in a temporary prayer space – the basement of a residential high-rise building. This is reported by the press service of the Cherkasy Eparchy of the UOC.

The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by the ruling bishop of the Cherkasy Eparchy, Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv. He was concelebrated by the eparchy secretary Archpriest Vasyl Vozniuk, parish rector Archpriest Eugene Burkatsky, and the city clergy. During the service, a special prayer was offered for the Church suffering persecution, after which the hierarch addressed the faithful with words of support.

The eparchy recalled that in the summer of 2023, the church of the Presentation community was seized by OCU representatives. Prior to this, as claimed, meetings were held with the participation of a group of deputies of the Cherkasy City Council, which the community considers to have been falsified in violation of the religious organization’s statute.

According to the eparchy's information, after the re-registration of documents, not only the church was seized, but also the parish house where the rector lived with his family. As a result, the clergyman with young children was left without housing, and parishioners were forced to seek a new place for prayer.

Since then, the community has been conducting services in a basement room in one of Cherkasy's high-rise buildings.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote about what the court found Metropolitan Theodosius guilty of.

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