Sixty-five religious communities of Zhytomyr region have sworn with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine since the latter received the Tomos of Autocephaly.
This was reported by the regional authorities in the response to the Suspilne public broadcaster’s inquiry.
In the period from January 7, 2019 to August 8, 2019, 13 religious communities within the region made the transition to the OCU. From August 8, 2019 to January 30, 2023, it was another 52 religious communities.
In a comment to Suspilne, the chief expert with the Zhytomyr region’s Office for Cultural Heritage Protection and Religions with the Department of Culture and Tourism, Oleksandr Pyvovarskyi said that today in the region, in addition to the religious communities of the UOC and the UOC, there are also communities with the Russian Church Abroad and communities of the Orthodox Old Believer Church. As for the transition to OCU, this process is ongoing.
On January 31, 2023, the religious community of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Moscow Patriarchate in the village of Kikova, Zvyahil district, expressed its intention to switch to the OCU.
Bishop Paisiy of the Zhytomyr-Ovruch diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine told Suspilne in an interview that there are such parishes where priests do not support their community so they choose to leave it.
“These priests even have such a slogan: “I’d rather herd pigs than be with the Ukrainian church.” This is such a clear call and their conscious attitude that they still support Russian aggression. The community does not accept this, remains without a pastor, but transfers to the Ukrainian church, and then we find a priest and services take place,” said Paisiy.
On February 8, in the Holy Ascension Church of the village of Kropyvnia, Zvyahil district, the religious community decided at its meeting to shift to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
“The meetings were held calmly, tolerantly, without aggression, everyone unanimously decided to support this proposal to transfer to the OCU. This is another important step for our community,” the statement by local authorities reads.
