OCU Holds Service in Seized Cherkasy Church—But Nobody Came

CHERKASY — On Sunday, June 15, 2025—the Feast of All Saints in the Orthodox Church—representatives of the Cherkasy branch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) held religious services in the seized St. Andrew’s Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in Cherkasy.

However, according to photos published on the official social media pages of the Cherkasy OCU, the church was almost entirely empty on this significant feast day. The report comes from Pervyi Kazatsky (First Cossack).

“The Cherkasy diocese of the OCU continues to embarrass itself. It seems our theory about a ‘migrating urban activist core’ in Epiphanius’ structure is being confirmed,” the commentary accompanying the images stated. “June 15 is the feast of All Saints, an important holiday for Orthodox Christians. And yet the seized St. Andrew’s cathedral is desolate. Besides OCU clergy, only four people were present in the occupied sanctuary. The local authorities and Epiphanius’ raiders violated every possible law and even involved security forces to take the church from the Cherkasy diocese of the UOC and thousands of faithful Orthodox Christians. And here is the result: a desecrated, empty church.”

Previously, the Cherkasy branch of the OCU issued a statement justifying its claims to several UOC parishes in the region, particularly the Church of the Nativity of Christ and that of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called.

The OCU alleges that the congregations of these churches voted independently to transfer to the OCU’s jurisdiction. 

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