Metropolitan Meletiy supports persecuted UOC community in Dobrynivtsi
All-night vigil in Dobrynivtsi. Photo: UOJ
On May 21, 2026, Metropolitan Meletiy of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna led the All-Night Vigil at the persecuted parish in honor of Saint Nicholas in the village of Dobrynivtsi. The hierarch visited the faithful on the eve of the church’s patronal feast. Through his archpastoral visit and prayers, he supported the religious community and strengthened the parishioners in faith, hope, and love.
The history of this parish has been marked by a long struggle for the right to pray in the canonical Church. The acute confrontation in the village of Dobrynivtsi began on April 13, 2019, on the day of the Saturday of the Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos. At that time, OCU supporters seized the local St. Nicholas Church.
However, the faithful did not cease their activity and, thanks to the efforts of the former rector, Mitred Archpriest Mykhail Muzyka, parishioners, and benefactors, built a new church. The first hierarchical service in the newly built church was celebrated on January 9, 2022.
As previously reported by the UOJ, a persecuted UOC community in Mykhalcha celebrated Pascha in a village hut. UOC believers have for years resisted raiding by supporters of Dumenko’s structure, including in the Chernivtsi Eparchy. Even after violent church seizures, Orthodox faithful do not cease their prayer life, but find the strength to build new holy sites or set up house churches.
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