Spaska UOC community celebrates patronal feast outdoors after church raid

Faithful at the celebration of the Feast of the Great Martyr John of Suceava in Spaska village. Photo: Faithful of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Eparchy of the UOC

On June 14, 2025, on the eve of the feast of the Great Martyr John of Suceava, the parish of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the village of Spaska, Storozhynets Deanery of the Chernivtsi Eparchy, held a festive all-night vigil. The service took place in the yard of a private home, which has served as a temporary place of worship since the community’s church was seized by OCU supporters. The event was reported on the Facebook page “Faithful of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Eparchy of the UOC.”

Despite difficult external circumstances, the religious community dedicated to St. John of Suceava – the heavenly patron of Bukovyna – gathered for communal prayer, to glorify their saint and strengthen their spiritual unity.

The service was led by the parish rector, Fr. Oleksandr Chuvyk.

At the end of the service, Archimandrite Vissarion, rector of the parish in honor of St. Paraskeva in the village of Stari Broskivtsi, addressed the faithful. He reminded them that the Church was not born in gilded walls, but in homes, forests, and fields – wherever there were hearts that believed in Christ. Likewise today, despite the loss of the building, the community remains alive, because its foundation is not made of stone but of faith, prayer, and conciliar unity.

Reminder: On May 12, 2025, in the village of Spaska, OCU supporters led by serial raider Roman Hryshchuk forcibly seized the historic UOC church dedicated to the Great Martyr John of Suceava.

According to parishioners, the attackers broke open the side doors and smashed the 19th-century lock on the main entrance from the inside. The church, built in 1876 with funds from Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and Voivode of Bukovyna, was violently taken from the canonical community and re-registered in favor of the OCU against the will of the majority of parishioners. Since then, services have been held in the yard of a private home repurposed as a temporary church.

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