In Ukraine’s far-western Zakarpattia region, six churches announced their withdrawal from the Moscow Patriarchate.
In particular, the parishes decided to leave the Russian church in Solotvyno community, which is home to more than 30,000 residents. The faithful decided to take such a step after the head of their church, Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev, blessed the Russian army for killing Ukrainians.
That’s according to the TSN news service.
Solotvyno’s faithful traditionally gathered in their church to pray for peace in Ukraine. Canonical prayers remain unchanged, but they no longer pray for the health of Russian Patriarch Kirill, as they did before. His name is no longer mentioned at all. Instead, they are fervently praying for Ukraine and Ukrainian defenders.
“People saw that there is a war, blood is being shed, so they came up with the initiative to get out of the subordination of the Moscow Patriarchate,” said Doryn Biletsky, rector of St. Michael’s Church in Solotvyno.
This question has arisen since the onset of the Russian invasion. Many men in the community deployed to defend their land, while the head of the Russian Orthodox Church actually blessed the Russicsts for killing Ukrainians. This greatly outraged the locals so they demanded withdrawal from the Moscow Patriarchate. “We live in Ukraine. It has long been necessary to do so. This is a very wise and correct decision,” say locals.
“They celebrated eight years of reunification of Crimea. The patriarch attended the celebration, presented the icon, and said they should defend their country. We saw that the patriarchate no longer has any support from our church, our people,” the priest added.
The very next day, in all six churches of the Solotvyno territorial community, it was stated that they renounced Kirill and they were leaving the Moscow Patriarchate. The decision was made by voting. Of the nearly 200 votes, only three were against. “The Russian Federation is an aggressor state that invaded our land and brought us war. The majority of people made their decision, no one forced them. People voted voluntarily,” explains Yuriy Tymkiv, First Deputy Mayor of Solotvyno.
They will meet again soon. Now they will vote for joining the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The latter has already responded – they would be happy to welcome them. Therefore, the relevant documents are already being prepared. Within a month of the Russian invasion, several dozen communities from nine regions have officially joined the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. And every day their number increases.
