Cypriot cleric visits newly-built churches of Nuino and Bronytsia

Archimandrite Nektarios (Bakopoulos) and Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich in the new church of the UOC in Bronytsia. Photo: Fr. Nikolai’s Facebook page

The cleric of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, Archimandrite Nektarios (Bakopoulos), who in 2019 visited the communities of the UOC in Volyn affected by the raider seizures, saw new churches in the villages of Nuino and Bronytsia and the joyful faces of parishioners, wrote on his Facebook page the deputy head of the Department for External Church Relations and the spokesperson for the UOC Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, who accompanies the Cypriot archimandrite on his trip to Ukraine.

He said that 2 years ago he came to these villages with Father Nektarios, where the believers of the UOC lost their churches because of the raiding of the OCU. And then, in the person of the Cypriot and Kyiv priests, the parishioners saw an opportunity to influence the situation "at the top", which they asked for personally. “They saw hope in us. And their hope was justified. True, it was not we who returned the temple to them but the Lord "at the highest top" arranged it so that now they have temples," Father Nikolai noted.

Now, according to the spokesperson for the UOC, together with Archimandrite Nektarios, he witnessed how parishioners of the persecuted communities of the UOC are filled with the Gospel words: “you will be sad, and your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16:20). “Then, 2 years ago, people in the villages were sad, disappointed with the loss of the church, with pain in their hearts, although at the same time they felt a kind of quiet joy mixed with sadness. But now they are all joyful, exalted, they have become a big spiritual family, they help one another, they have become close to each other. So these tests only benefited them,” wrote Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich.

A Sunday school was opened in Bronytsia, next to the new church of the UOC. And the believers from Nuino spoke about their special feelings when they had to gather for prayer in a private house, and now they are preparing to move to a new church. “After many years of service in the temple, it was difficult to move into the house. To do this, one had to have a strong faith. But the house has become a temple for us, and even now, when we are already completing the construction of the temple, we still want to be in that room, there is especially grace there,” Father Nikolai said.

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