UOC Lawyer Calls for Prayers Ahead of Major Court Hearing

KYIV — The legal representative of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Archpriest Nikita Chekman, has appealed to the faithful for prayers ahead of an upcoming court hearing concerning the future of the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC.

The hearing in case No. 855/11/25 is scheduled for July 2, 2026, at 10 a.m. at the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal in Kyiv. The case was initiated by the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), which filed a lawsuit seeking the termination of the activities of the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC.

As the Kyiv Metropolis is where the Church is headquartered, this is seen as a way to fast-track the dissolution of the UOC if the DESS' lawsuit is successful.

In the appeal, the UOC’s lawyer called on the faithful to pray for the Church, its hierarchs, clergy, and believers, as well as for a fair consideration of the case.

“We especially ask for prayerful support on the eve of and on the day of the court hearing,” the message stated.

The appeal concluded with the biblical verse: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31), expressing hope for God’s mercy and a just outcome in the proceedings.

The July 2 court hearing marks the latest in a series of events marked by postponements since the case was initially filed in the fall of 2025.

As previously reported by the UOJ, in September, one of the judges called in sick, and in October, a hearing was postponed once again to allow the legal team of the UOC to review documents that the DESS had withheld from them.