Four more religious communities in Vinnytsia Oblast join Orthodox Church of Ukraine
Four more religious communities in Vinnytsia Oblast join the OCU (Photo:orthodox.vinnica.ua)
Four more religious communities in Vinnytsia Oblast have joined the Vinnytsko-Barska Eparchy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) in the past week, according to Protodeacon Vladyslav Demchenko, the Secretary of the Eparchy’s Administration, as reported by Ukrinform on April 6.
The four congregations, three in the Zhmerynka district and one in Vinnytsia, have already conducted their first services in their new churches after joining the OCU.
The first Divine Liturgies in the Ukrainian language took place at the Church of Archistrategos Michael in the village of Dovhopolivka in Vinnytsia district, at the Church of the Miracle of Archistrategos Michael in the village of Lopatynets in Zhmerynka district, and at the Church of St. Apostle John the Theologian in the village of Riv in Zhmerynka district.
On March 31, after several weeks of confrontation between the faithful and priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) who prevented parishioners from conducting services in the church, prayer in Ukrainian were said in the Pokrovska Church in the village of Hrabivtsi in Zhmerynka district. A thanksgiving prayer and a requiem service for the deceased and fallen soldiers were held there.
Demchenko also noted that 41 former parishes joined the Vinnytsia-Bar Regional Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Orthodox Church of Ukraine) last year, and eight have already joined since the beginning of 2023.
Additionally, on April 5, the community of the main church of the Lviv Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) – the St. George’s Cathedral in Lviv – made a decision to switch to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
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