When just 50 people of the entire eparchy greet “primate of a local church”
Serhiy Dumenko has arrived in Kamianets-Podilskyi.
“The Kamianets-Podilskyi Eparchy joyfully welcomed the Primate of the OCU – His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine. A prayer service was held on the foundations of the destroyed Ukrainian cathedral, and the newly erected cross was blessed,” the OCU wrote, publishing photos of the event.
So they posted about it. Why are we bringing it up?
Let's consider a few objective facts.
Kamianets-Podilskyi itself has a population of 100,000, while the surrounding district has another 300,000. And that doesn't even include the other districts within the OCU's Kamianets-Podilskyi Eparchy.
Yet no more than 40–50 people showed up to greet the “primate of a local Church.” Some were even wearing shorts, suggesting they were simply passersby.
And this was despite the visit taking place on a day off, despite the extensive publicity, and despite appeals urging local residents to come “pray in Ukrainian with their primate.”
Even if we take only the combined population of the city and district – 400,000 people – without counting the rest of the eparchy, that means just 0.01% of the population turned out to welcome the head of what is described as Ukraine's largest religious organization.
Further comment seems unnecessary.
The next time Dumenko's representatives cite another opinion poll claiming that 80–90% of Ukrainians support the OCU, this turnout is worth remembering.
