In Kyiv, OCU allowed into St. Cyril’s Church

Dumenko and associates at St. Cyril’s Church of Kyiv. Photo: OCU

On May 11, 2025, the head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Serhii Dumenko, together with his associates, held a religious event at the ancient St. Cyril’s Church of Kyiv, reports the OCU website.

“From now on and until the liberation of the Luhansk region from Russian occupation, the St. Cyril’s Church will serve as the center of the Luhansk Eparchy. Therefore, during the service, representatives of the local authorities of the region, led by the head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration and Regional Military Administration, Oleksii Kharchenko, prayed along with internally displaced persons,” the OCU website stated.

St. Cyril’s Church is under the administration of the National Reserve “Saint Sophia of Kyiv”. Since 2011, it has housed the Cyril Monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). The lease agreement with the Ministry of Culture expired on January 30, 2025. Officials declined to renew the lease for the monastery.

The OCU did not specify on what legal basis the church was designated the “center of the Luhansk Eparchy”.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that an OCU cleric had accidentally shown that he was serving on an antimins signed by Patriarch Kirill.

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