Procession from Kamianets reaches Pochaiv Lavra

The procession entering the Pochaiv Lavra. Photo: UOJ

Pilgrims of the traditional religious procession from Kamianets-Podilskyi have arrived at Pochaiv Lavra. Over seven days of travel, faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church covered about 250 kilometers to celebrate the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos at the ancient monastery.

This year, the many-thousand-strong column of the faithful, stretching nearly three kilometers, proved noticeably larger than last year's. Among those praying this year, a particularly large number of young people took part, forming one of the main contingents of the procession. Each day, the pilgrims set out very early, at 3:30–4:00 in the morning, covering between 20 and 40 kilometers per day.

Throughout the entire route across Khmelnytskyi and Ternopil regions, the faithful encountered varying reactions from local residents. Some people came out to meet the pilgrims, made the sign of the cross, and watched them pass, while others attempted to provoke the pilgrims.

Before the war began, the number of participants in this annual procession reached 25,000–30,000 people. In recent years, the holding of the cross procession has regularly been accompanied by attempts by local authorities to restrict or completely ban the pilgrimage of UOC faithful.

As the UOJ reported, Ukrainians criticized an official who called the pilgrimage to Pochaiv a "horror".

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