First typical UOC church in Western Europe opened in Worms, Germany

First Divine Liturgy at the UOC church in Worms. Photo: UOC Khmelnytskyi Eparchy's Facebook page

On November 14, 2023, a new parish of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) was officially opened in the city of Worms, Germany. This parish is the first among UOC communities in Western Europe to conduct services in a standard Orthodox church building, reports the UOC Department for External Church Relations.

The Church of St. Andrew the First-Called, transferred to the UOC community, was constructed with the support of a Romanian philanthropist, Mihaela Elena Grün.

The opening celebrations were led by Archbishop Victor of Khmelnytskyi and Starokostiantyniv. Before the Divine Liturgy, he consecrated the church’s iconostasis and frescoes.

During the Liturgy, Archbishop Victor was joined by Archbishop Dionysiy of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi, Bishop Mark of Borodianka, Archpriest Mykola Danylevych, Deputy Chairman of the UOC Department for External Church Relations, Archpriest Ilia Surdu, the church rector, as well as rectors of other UOC parishes in Germany: Archpriest Serhiy Hayevskyi (Cologne), Archpriest Ivan Sukhoniak (Hamburg), and Archpriest Maksym Boichura (Leipzig). Also present were Archpriest Dmytriy Popescu from the UOC parish in Brussels and clergy guests from Ukraine.

Ukrainian and Romanian-speaking faithful from Germany and Belgium participated in the service. The Liturgy was conducted in Church Slavonic, Ukrainian, Romanian, and German. The hymns were performed by the choir of the UOC parish in Brussels, dedicated to the Venerable Fathers of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

Prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine, for its people, authorities, and military, and for the swift liberation of Ukrainian lands from invaders.

Bishop Mark performed the diaconal ordination of Volodymyr Kliuyko, a graduate of the Kyiv Theological Academy, who will serve in one of the UOC parishes in Western Europe.

Archbishop Victor awarded Archpriests Dmytriy Popescu and Ilia Surdu the right to wear a mitre and presented the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called to the church’s benefactor, Mihaela Elena Grün.

On behalf of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry, Primate of the UOC, Archbishop Victor congratulated the parish community on the opening of the church.

Earlier, UOJ reported that on November 12, 2023, the first Liturgy was held at a new Ukrainian Orthodox Church parish in Dublin, Ireland.

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