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“We’ve been waiting for this for years, waiting to have a Ukrainian church so that nobody could spit in our eye. We prayed for this and waited for this for a very long time,” Verchany resident Mariya Antoniv said.
“Yes, we needed a church like this in Ukraine. It was long overdue. It should have been done right after Ukraine had gained independence. But, thank God, the wait is over. Better late than never,” Verchany resident Vira Tsap said.
The decision to make the switch was taken democratically, during a gathering of the parish.
One week earlier, the parish of Transfiguration Cathedral in Vinnytsia also became part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It is headed by Metropolitan Simeon. For his participation in the unification, the Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate sacked him from his position and barred him from holding services. But the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople blessed him to continue in his role — now with the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
“For my priests and my parish, the Ecumenical Patriarch sent me a letter with the decision of Synod regarding my ban. All decisions adopted at the Synod of the Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate are of no effect for us because all of their decision are non-canonical,” Metropolitan Simeon said.
As of today, 20 churches across Ukraine made the decision to join the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
However, in the East of the country, none of those belonging to Moscow Patriarchate made the switch so far. But following the creation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the number of worshipers in churches that were originally part of the Kyiv patriarchy has grown considerably.
“In Siverodonetsk, the parish of the holy prophet Illiah has become larger. We see the same trends in other parishes in the Luhansk region. Every parish saw an increase by 15-20, people. Up to about 50 people made the switch,” Bishop Afanasiy said.
After more than four years of Russia’s undeclared war, many people believe that the center of their church should not be located in Moscow.
“The people of the Luhansk region are responsible Ukrainians and will not tolerate in their churches prayers for the Moscow Patriarch Kirill and the leader of the Russian state Putin and for the Russian soldiers, who are killing us, killing our military,” Bishop Afanasiy said.
Clerics expect even more people will switch to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church after the arrival of the long-awaited Tomos of Autocephaly to the capital of Ukraine.
