Priest repents defecting to OCU and returns to UOC

Priest Vasyl Kovtash says he wants to return to the UOC and calls his 2024 move to the OCU a mistake.

Priest Vasyl Kovtash has publicly repented for joining the OCU and returned to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The cleric delivered a video address and a word of repentance addressed to His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry, Metropolitan Meletiy of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna, and the clergy and faithful of the UOC.

Father Vasyl acknowledged that his move to the OCU in 2024 was a mistake. "Today, reconsidering my actions and these decisions, I realize that I made a serious mistake, for which I sincerely repent. Before God, the Church, and all Orthodox Christians," Father Vasyl said.

The priest separately addressed his public statements in the media and on social networks. "I allowed myself to condemn and to make harsh accusations, and I spoke in a way that caused pain to other people and sowed discord and enmity among Orthodox Christians. Today I sincerely regret what I did."

The cleric added that he takes full responsibility for his past actions and expressed a sincere desire to return to the bosom of the UOC under the omophorion of Metropolitan Onuphry. "I understand that true repentance is not limited to beautiful words or public statements, so in the future I will sincerely confirm it by my life, by obedience, and by humility toward the Church and people through concrete deeds," the priest emphasized.

In response to the appeal of repentance, Metropolitan Meletiy of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna signed a decree dated November 3, 2026. The hierarch accepted the repentance of Priest Vasyl Kovtash and fully lifted the previously imposed ban on priestly ministry, blessing the resumption of service in holy orders.

Cases of clerics and parishes returning from the OCU to the UOC have occurred before. In July 2019, the Holy Dormition community of the village of Morozivka in the Kyiv region, led by its rector Archpriest Mykola Breha, repented and returned to the UOC. The rector explained that the decision to return arose after realizing that in the OCU politics had replaced genuine spiritual life.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Archpriest Andriy Shymanovych explained why he returned from the OCU to the UOC, saying that in the OCU ideology and radical nationalism had in effect displaced Gospel faith, and political slogans had begun to replace Church traditions.