Department for External Church Relations
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OCU raiders seize a church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Spaska village, Bukovina
DECR Communication Service, 13/05/2025
On 12th May 2025, in Spaska village, Chernivtsi region, Ukraine, the OCU clerics seized the 19th-century Church of the Holy Great Martyr John of Suceava of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
As the Union of Orthodox Journalists reports, citing the church’s parishioners, the perpetrators first forced a side door and, when inside, broke the 19th-century lock on the main door. The raiders were led by Roman Hryshchuk who had been previously involved in church seizures.
The church in Spaska village was built in 1876 with donations from Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria and Duke of Bukovina.
According to the UOJ, earlier the parishioners of the Church of St. John of Suceava in Spaska village had issued an official statement, confirming their intention to remain loyal to the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church headed by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine. One hundred and ten people voted for that at a parish meeting.
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