OCU Cleric Holds 'Liturgy' While Wearing St. John of Kronstadt's Miter

“Archimandrite” Kyprian Lozynsky of the OCU St. John Chrysostom Monastery in Lviv in the miter of St. John of Kronstadt of the Russian Orthodox Church. Photo: Facebook

LVIV — On September 28, 2025, the “superior” of the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) St. John Chrysostom Monastery in Lviv, “archimandrite” Kyprian Lozynsky, conducted a “service” wearing the miter of St. John of Kronstadt of the Russian Orthodox Church, ZAXID.NET reported.

Photos from the “liturgy” were posted by Lozynsky on his Facebook page. In comments he explained that the miter had belonged to the saint of the Russian Orthodox Church and had been brought specially for his birthday. “It was given to me only for today’s Liturgy on the occasion of my birthday. Afterwards it will return to its current owner,” Lozynsky wrote.

Later the “archimandrite” remarked that he regarded the 19th-century miter “more as a museum exhibit than as a holy relic.” “Of course, I will not regularly serve in his miter. But as a one-time occasion, in the context of Church history, using it as a museum exhibit connected with a righteous man, it can be used,” he emphasized.

John of Kronstadt was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1990. His memory is commemorated on January 2. In his lifetime he became renowned as a preacher and author of spiritual works that are still valued throughout the Orthodox world today.

Previously, UOJ reported that Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) has sent a detailed public letter to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, urging him to revoke the Tomos of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) and to end persecution of the canonical Church.

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