Persecuted UOC community in Spaske celebrates patronal feast
The faithful of the village of Spaske celebrated the Divine Liturgy in a repurposed room provided by parishioners after the forceful seizure of their church.
The UOC community of St. John the New of Suceava in the village of Spaske, Storozhynets Deanery, has celebrated its patronal feast day. The news was reported by believers of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on Facebook.
This is already the second year that parishioners have gathered not in their native church but in the yard of a private home made available by devoted members of the community. The festive Divine Liturgy was led by Archimandrite Vissarion, rector of the Church of St. Paraskeva in the village of Stari Broskivtsi, concelebrating with the parish rector, Fr. Oleksandr Chuvyk, and clergy of the diocese.
During the service, clergy and faithful prayed for peace on Ukrainian soil, for deliverance from the enemy, and for the preservation of those who have lost their homes because of the war. The rector and parishioners stressed that, despite being deprived of access to their seized church, the community has remained united and faithful to the Church.
As previously reported, on May 12, 2025, supporters of the OCU seized the Church of St. John the New of Suceava in Spaske. The takeover involved activists from the neighboring villages of Dubove and Mykhalcha under the leadership of Roman Hryshchuk and local chaplains. Since then, the UOC faithful have been forced to hold services in a house church.
As the UOJ reported, the “rector” of the seized cathedral in Kremenchuk refused to allow the UOC community to enter for prayer.
