UOC Parish Serving Hospital Patients Faces Eviction in Cherkasy

CHERKASY, UKRAINE — As reported by the Telegram channel First Cossack, a Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) parish serving patients at the Third Cherkasy City Hospital faces eviction after hospital administrators declined to renew its lease, ending a 20-year arrangement for worship in the facility.

In a letter to the Cherkasy Diocese, hospital officials said the room used by the Parish of the Holy Apostle Luke was needed for the “proper organization of staff work.” The decision would end the parish’s use of the space, where patients have been able to pray and participate in the Church’s Sacraments.

The hospital’s chief physician suggested in a personal conversation that the parish rector, Archimandrite Viktor, transfer to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), after which the arrangement could continue as before. Fr. Viktor, who has led the parish for two decades, refused to leave the UOC.

First Cossack also alleged that OCU supporters had previously attempted to take over the chapel and forged parish documents, but the existing lease held by the canonical diocese prevented the transfer. The channel cited a previous case at the First Cherkasy City Hospital, where a room used by a UOC parish was transferred to the OCU but reportedly went unused before being closed.

First Cossack characterized the latest decision as hostility toward the UOC and predicted a similar outcome for the Third Hospital chapel.

Previously, the UOJ reported that a UOC priest was detained despite having a disabled child.