Chernivtsi Cathedral Affirms Allegiance to Orthodox Church Amid Threats from Schismatics

Chernivtsi, Chernivtsi Province, Ukraine, February 17, 2025

Holy Spirit Cathedral in Chernivtsi. Photo: Facebook

Ukrainian Orthodox Christians gathered on Sunday in the western Ukrainian Chernivtsi Province to bear witness to their Orthodox faith and their loyalty to the Church.

In the face of threats by the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” hundreds of Orthodox parishioners of the Holy Spirit Cathedral in the city of Chernivtsi voted to remain in the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the headship of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine.

The meeting was broadcast on the cathedral’s Facebook page and reported on by the Union of Orthodox Journalists.

At the same time, the godless schismatics were meeting just behind the cathedral, planning to seize the cathedral and other churches. They concluded their meeting with calls for death to their fellow Ukrainians who remain faithful to Christ in His holy Church.

After the vote of the Orthodox parish community, His Eminence Metropolitan Meletiy of Chernivtsi stated that the final documents on the meeting results would be brought to the attention of the Chernivtsi Regional Military Administration, Security Service of Ukraine, and the police.

Met. Meletiy spoke to the provocations and propaganda surrounding the cathedral, noting that services are conducted there in Church Slavonic and Romanian, not Russian, as the ignorant claim. He also emphasized that the cathedral has no connection to Russia and that Patriarch Kirill is not commemorated in the services because they disagree with his stance on the war.

Churches in western Ukraine have been particularly under threat lately. Several parish communities have made Orthodox parishes in western Ukraine seek U.S. protection from religious persecutionParishioners of the Church of St. Basil in the village of Pidzaharychi in Bukovina appealed to U.S. government agencies about protecting their rights on January 30.

“>public appeals for help to the U.S. government, to Vice President Vance in particular, and last week, hundreds gathered in a Hundreds of Ukrainian Orthodox process for protection of churches in western Ukraine (+VIDEO)Hundreds of Orthodox Christians held a cross procession through the center of the city of Storozhynets in the western Ukrainian province of Chernivtsi on Sunday, offering fervent prayers to the Lord for the protection of their holy churches against the violent state church.”>prayer procession in the Chernivtsi city of Storozhynets, calling upon the Lord’s protection.