In Bukovina since 2019, a total of 30 communities have held meetings deciding to change their canonical subordination. In particular, they made the transition from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (which is united with the Moscow Patriarchate) to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
Olena Bodnar, head of the culture department of the Chernivtsi Regional Military Adminstration, told about this in a comment to the ACC Media agency:
“Already during the full-scale war, 12 communities in Bukovina changed their canonical subordination. Of them, did so in 2022 and another six in 2023.” Therefore, in 2022, the religious communities of the villages of Khlivishche, Verbivtsi, Yurkivtsi, Babyn, and Khreshchatyk of the Chernivtsi district and Babyn of the Dnistrovsky district changed their canonical subordination from the UOC MP to the OCU.
In 2023, the Pohorylivka, Rososhany, Rynhach, Chornyi Potik, Prylypche, and Ivanivtsi communities completed their transitions.
“Now people are more aware, they understand the importance of this transition. And we help them with this, hold consultations, meet with citizens, and provide a list of documents. The transition is carried out within one to three months,” the official concluded.
