Was Epifaniy’s uncle behind the cathedral seizure?
Why does the structure that calls itself the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” – and is called by Patriarch Bartholomew as a legitimate Church – act like outright gangsters?
The footage of the brutal assault in Chernivtsi during the attempted seizure of the Holy Spirit Cathedral has already swept across half the Orthodox world.
At first glance, the attackers appear to be nothing more than street thugs – bandits whose actions have nothing to do with the Church.
But that’s only the surface.
As strange as it may sound, the man overseeing this violent raid was a priest of the OCU – Ioann Chokaliuk.
He’s not just any clergyman. He is a relative of none other than Epifaniy Dumenko, the leader of the OCU.
According to “Honorary Patriarch” Filaret Denysenko, Epifaniy is a relative of the late Metropolitan Danyil Chokaliuk: “Epifaniy is Danyil’s illegitimate son and was raised in the Chokaliuk family. There is now evidence of this. It used to be rumor – now it is fact: he is Metropolitan Danyil's illegitimate son.”
So who was Metropolitan Danyil?
He was the older brother of Ioann Chokaliuk – the same man caught on camera during the cathedral assault.
The Chokaliuk family lived in the village of Stara Zhadova, Bukovyna:
• Eldest brother: Danyil Chokaliuk, Metropolitan of Rivne in the former UOC-KP, died of a stroke in 2005.
• Middle brother: Sviatoslav Chokaliuk, candidate of theology, professor, and secretary of the Academic Council of the Kyiv Theological Academy, died in 2024.
• Youngest brother: Ioann Chokaliuk, military chaplain, administrator of the Chernivtsi eparchy of the OCU, and the right-hand man of Bishop Feognost Bodoriak.
So let this sink in: a direct participant in the violent attempt to seize the Holy Spirit Cathedral on behalf of the OCU was none other than the uncle of Epifaniy Dumenko himself – who is also the first deputy to the OCU bishop of Chernivtsi.
Surveillance footage from the cathedral shows Ioann Chokaliuk calmly watching as, right before his eyes, one priest is brutally beaten, and another is chased down the courtyard to be assaulted as well.
Meanwhile, Chokaliuk casually enters the cathedral dressed in civilian clothes, posing as an ordinary bystander.
Now pay close attention to the plastic bag in his hand.
That bag likely contains his cassock, which we later see him wearing.
In the next shots, he can be seen in the sacristy, now dressed in a cassock, closing the cathedral doors from the inside.
The same bag is still in his hands – only now, the cassock is on him.
But then something unexpected happens.
When the intruders, who had barricaded themselves inside the church, saw that a massive crowd – nearly five thousand people – had gathered outside to defend their shrine, they realized the odds were against them, and that they would have to leave.
The police brought in minivans to extract them.
Chokaliuk, together with the thugs, exited through a live corridor organized and protected by the police.
But again – note this carefully:
He did not come out as a priest.
He did not face the people.
He came out in civilian clothing, wearing a balaclava, hiding his face.
The same plastic bag still in his hand.
And now we must ask:
Why do the representatives of this organization that calls itself the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” – the very group recognized by Patriarch Bartholomew as a legitimate Church – act like outright gangsters?
Has Patriarch Bartholomew still not realized that he has welcomed into the family of Orthodox Churches a blatantly criminal organization – one capable of such vile treachery?
Does he truly still believe that these people can change? That one day, they’ll abandon their thug-like ways – put down their masks, unclench their fists – to become gentle shepherds of Christ’s flock?
Now it becomes clear why the very word repentance makes the OCU recoil. Because repentance means a change of mind, a transformation of the heart.
And that, it seems, is the one thing they have no intention of ever doing.
