The parish of St. Basil’s Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (in unity with the Moscow Patriarchate) in the village of Pidzakharichy, Chernivtsi region, has publicly withdrawn its previous appeal to U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance. Previously, the parish complained to the American politician about the alleged illegal transition of their religious community to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).
The parishioners noted in the appeal that they believe in Vance’s support, because they consider him “young, energetic” and someone who is “interested in observing religious freedoms and Christian values.”
In their January appeal, the parishioners claimed that the decision to transition to the OCU was made at a meeting attended by dubious individuals while 172 villagers were not allowed to participate in the process. In addition, the appeal referred to the alleged preparation of a “forced assault on the church with reinforcements, chainsaws, and militants to shed Christian blood and seize our Orthodox church.”
The initial appeal also noted that the Bukovynian diaspora in the United States was preparing an appeal to the U.S. Secretary of State Mark Rubio regarding the situation of Pidzakharichy, which they called “blatant discrimination and humiliation of Orthodox Christians.”
Parishioners also claimed that similar “assaults” had already taken place in other settlements in Bukovyna – Lenkivtsi, Vaslovivtsi, Zadubrivtsi, and Maly Kuchuriv.
However, on March 2, a new appeal appeared on the page of the St. Basil’s Church of the UOC, in which the parishioners admitted that they “made a mistake when they published their public appeal to the US government.”
“In connection with recent developments across the world, we have realized that this appeal has only worsened the attitude of the international community towards Ukraine. In this difficult time for Ukraine, we must unite to support our soldiers who are defending the state from Russian aggression. We remain loving Orthodox Christians with the UOC under the leadership of His Beatitude [Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine] Onufriy and hope that the Lord grants each of us the mind and that Christian love that will enable us to withstand the challenges that face us in such difficult times,” the appeal states.
Thus, the parish of the St. Basil’s Church of the UOC (MP) in Pidzakharichy publicly abandoned its complaints about the transition to the OCU and called for unity and support for Ukraine in times of war.
