Canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church's Parish In Khmelnytskyi Region Joins 'New Church'

A parish of the Ukrainian canonical Orthodox Church (UOC) in the Khmelnytskyi region along with its priest have joined the newly established autocephalous Ukrainian church, the representative of the non-canonical church, "Metropolitan" Anthonii Makhota of Khmelnitskyi and Kamenets-Podolsky, said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th December, 2018) A parish of the Ukrainian canonical Orthodox Church (UOC) in the Khmelnytskyi region along with its priest have joined the newly established autocephalous Ukrainian church, the representative of the non-canonical church, "Metropolitan" Anthonii Makhota of Khmelnitskyi and Kamenets-Podolsky, said on Tuesday.

"We are very pleased to accept the brothers and sisters of the St. Nicholas parish of the village of Dobrohorscha in the Khmelnitsky region, headed by their rector, priest Alexander Bulanov, to the Khmelnytskyi eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church," Makhota wrote on Facebook.

According to a spokesperson of the Vinnytsya eparchy of the non-canonical church, more than 20 parishes of the UOC in Vinnytsya have also joined the autocephalous Ukrainian church, including communities of the church of the Holy Trinity in Vinnytsya and the church of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow".

On December 15, a "unification council" was held in Kiev, where Epiphany Dumenko was elected head of the new "autocephalous church." According to Ukrainian media, only two bishops of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate participated in the council. The Ukrainian authorities expect to get tomos of autocephaly from Constantinople in early January.

The Moscow Patriarchate described the situation as the "legalization of schism," stressing that it would have catastrophic consequences and affect millions of Christians in Ukraine and other countries.