The cleric of the Cypriot Orthodox Church, secretary of the Tamasos diocese, Archimandrite Nektarios (Bakopoulos), who in 2019 visited the communities of the UOC in Volyn affected by raider seizures, saw new churches in the villages of Nuino and Bronytsy and the joyful faces of parishioners. The Deputy Head of the Department for External Church Relations and Speaker of the UOC Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, who accompanies the Archimandrite on his trip to Ukraine, wrote on Facebook about the impressions of the Cypriot clergyman.

Two years ago, Father Nikolai and Father Nektariy came to these villages, where the believers of the UOC lost their churches due to the raiding of the OCU. And then, in the person of the Cypriot and Kiev priests, the parishioners saw an opportunity to influence the situation “at the top”, which they asked for personally. “They saw hope in us. And their hope was justified. True, it was not we who returned the temple to them, but the Lord “at the highest summits” arranged it so that now they have temples, “Father Nikolai noted.

Now the Cypriot and Ukrainian priests have witnessed how the parishioners of the persecuted communities of the UOC are filled with the Gospel words: “you will be sad, and your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16:20). “Then, 2 years ago, people in the villages were sad, disappointed with the loss of the church, with pain in their hearts, although at the same time they felt a kind of quiet joy mixed with sadness. But now they are all joyful, exalted, they have become a big spiritual family, they help each other, they have become close to each other. So these tests only benefited them, ”the archpriest noted.

A Sunday school was opened in Bronitsa, next to the new church of the UOC. And the believers from Nuino told about their special feelings when they were forced to gather for prayer in a private house, and now they are preparing to move to a new church. “After many years of service in the temple, it was difficult to move into the house. To do this, one had to have a strong faith. But the house has become a temple for us, and even now, when we are already completing the construction of the temple, we still want to stay in that room, there is especially grace there, ”wrote the cleric of the UOC.

As previously reported, the raiders who helped to seize the temples of the UOC do not like the process of their restoration.