“Parishes that do not exist”: UOC communities of Boyanchuk and Horoshivtsi

Parishioners of the temples seized by the OCU in the villages of Boyanchuk and Horoshivtsi. Photo: YouTube

Parishioners of the UOC religious communities in the villages of Boyanchuk and Horoshivtsi, Chernivtsi region, appealed to their compatriots with the Christmas Gospel in the framework of the “Parishes that do not exist” project.

“To you, dear friends, parishes, which legally ceased its existence ONE YEAR ago, are addressing words of congratulations on the Nativity of Christ. These children, parents, grandmothers – Orthodox believers of Horoshivtsy and Boyanchuk in Bukovina – according to official documents are ghost people, people who should have already evaporated <...> Christ is born!”, Chernivtsi-Bukovina Diocese posted on the YouTube channel.

The diocese explained that the project “Parishes that do not exist” is intended to tell “about people who are faithful to the Lord, people who are ignored by government officials and the popularly elected President, but who are very well seen by the Infant Christ, by all those who do not have spiritual blindness.”

Employees of the diocese recalled that on December 30, 2018, in the village of Boyanchuk, and on January 20, 2019 in the village of Horoshivtsi, activists of the OCU held illegal meetings of territorial communities, whose participants voted to transfer the churches to the new church structure. After that, the temples were taken away from the believers of the UOC, and local authorities re-registered them in favor of the OCU. Litigation has been going on for more than 11 months.

Parishioners of the canonical Church from Boyanchuk and Horoshivtsi united in one religious community and are going to worship in a small hut, which was donated by a pious old parishioner. Believers hope to build a new temple in the future.

We asked the parishioners, maybe they are mistaken, because Epiphany Dumenko (head of the new religious organization – OCU) said that he wasn’t taking away anything but was building beautiful new temples for the supporters of his religious structure. Believers are smiling and inviting to come and pray with them in a tiny hut for 2 rooms, with low ceilings, to see everything not on the Internet but with our own eyes.

Earlier, the UOJ spoke about how the community of the seized UOC temple in Boyanchuk village celebrated its patronal holiday after the seizure of their temple in October 2019.

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