Hilcha community thwarts OCU’s provocation, confirming its loyalty to UOC

Hegumen German (Kulakevych) leads a meeting of the parishioners of the St. Nicholas Church. Photo: screenshot from Facebook video

On June 5, 2022, in the village of Hilcha, Rivne diocese, the parishioners of the St. Nicholas Church at a meeting confirmed their allegiance to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, headed by Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine. Hegumen German (Kulakevych) announced this on his Facebook page.

“The community once again confirmed its belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The parishioners of our church did not go to the meeting that took place that day near the local house of culture, initiated by an unknown ‘organizing committee’, emphasizing that this meeting has nothing to do with our religious community," the priest wrote.

The parishioners gathered in the church and, at the suggestion of Father Herman, held an open vote to decide whether the community should remain in the UOC or move to the OCU. Of the 65 people who gathered, 64 voted in favor of remaining faithful to the UOC, there were no votes for moving to the OCU, and one parishioner abstained.

Recall that the day before, supporters of the OCU posted announcements in the village, inviting residents to a meeting regarding the transfer of the church community of the St. Nicholas Church from the subordination of the UOC to the OCU, but Fr. Herman explained on Facebook that this meeting was illegal and urged believers to ignore it.

As the UOJ wrote, the head of the Rivne Regional Council failed to ban the UOC because the deputies did not attend the meeting.

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