UOC-MP expelled from main church in Shepetivka, rally continues in Starokonstantyniv: all details, photos and videos

In the Khmelnytsky region, on April 8, in the towns of Shepetivka and Starokonstantyniv, people gathered near the churches of the UOC-MP, demanding that they transfer to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. As a result, the clergy of the OCU entered St Michael's Cathedral in Shepetivka.

"Prayer is now in Ukrainian," blogger Andriy Smoliy wrote about the events in the town. It should be noted that the community decided to move to the Ukrainian church on May 7, 2022, but religious leaders from the Moscow Patriarchate did not hand over the keys to the church.

Earlier, representatives of the UOC-MP wrote on the council's Facebook account that they would never agree to join the OCU because it "has nothing to do with Christianity."

"They (the clergy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine - Ed.) have violated all the commandments of God, all human laws, and then call themselves believers, call themselves priests, when their ordination is invalid. Isn't it clear that the OCU is only an intermediate stage in the transition to Catholicism, under the authority of the Pope, who will definitely not rule from Kyiv," the churchmen believe.

They asserted that they were in no way connected with Russia, that in the first hours of the full-scale war they strongly condemned the aggressor and were praying tirelessly for our state, army and government.

In Starokonstantyniv, people gathered near the church and chanted "Down with the Moscow priest!".

Video from the scene shows that residents came with flags of Ukraine, and military and police officers were present.

As previously reported by OBOZREVATEL, an investigation by Ukrayinska Pravda journalist Mykhailo Tkach revealed that more than 20 clergymen of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, including Metropolitan Onufriy (Orest Berezovsky) of the UOC-MP, have citizenship of the occupying country, Russia. In addition, in January 2023, almost a year after the full-scale invasion, the bishop of the UOC-MP and abbot of the tithe monastery Gedeon held a service in Kazan, Russia.

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