Ukraine Presses Romanian Church to Recognize OCU Following Violent Church Clash in Chernivtsi
Kyiv says recognition would boost trust, downplays ethnic motives in religious conflict.
BUCHAREST — In the wake of a violent church takeover attempt in Chernivtsi, Ukrainian Ambassador to Romania Ihor Prokopchuk urged the Romanian Orthodox Church to grant full recognition to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). Speaking at a June 26 press conference, Prokopchuk said such recognition would “strengthen relations and trust” between the two nations.
The appeal comes just days after an attempted seizure of the Holy Spirit Cathedral, a canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) church, by OCU supporters led to a mass brawl and the beating of priests. Despite this, Prokopchuk denied ethnic or nationalist motivations, framing the conflict as a purely ecclesiastical dispute despite saying that the UOC is “under Moscow’s authority.”
The ambassador accused Russia of seeking to inflame tensions, going so far as to say that the event in Chernivtsi was the result of "Russian manipulation," and promised that Ukrainian authorities would work to ensure religious disputes in Bukovyna are settled peacefully.
Previously, UOJ's Ukrainian branch (SPZh) reported that a member of the European Parliament urged Romania to denounce the violence against clergy during the incident.
