UOC Primate consecrates a chapel with a memorial cross in Bucha

On June 19, 2022, All Saints’ Day, His Beatitude Onuphry celebrated Divine Liturgy at Sts Peter and Paul’s Church in Bucha, which had been damaged during the war. The UOC Primate was concelebrated by Metropolitan Clement of Nizhyn and Priluky, Bishop Tikhon of Hostomel, Bishop Viktor of Baryshevka, Bishop Silvester of Bilhorod, Bishop Dionysius of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi, Bishop Mark of Borodianka, Bishop Kirill of Bishkek, and other clergymen.

After the Liturgy, His Beatitude Onuphry consecrated a chapel with a memorial cross, erected in memory of the Bucha residents who died because of the Russian invasion.

At the homily, Metropolitan Onuphry supported the parishioners of Sts Peter and Paul’s Church in the courage with which they endured the recent tragic events in their town.

"Many of you have lost your relatives: husbands, brothers, sisters, mothers. It is a tragedy," the Primate said. “But I am glad that you are enduring it all so courageously. Because a man, who does not lose his faith and love, with hope in God will survive anything that may happen to him in the earthly life. And you are an example of that. I bow before your love to God and to one another. That you did not become embittered but gave everything to the judgment of God. One can run away from human judgment, one can avoid it, and one can pay it off. One can't get away from God's judgment.”

The Primate also blessed the military who were defending the town.

As earlier reported, repairs to the war-affected Sts Peter and Paul’s Church of the UOC have started in Bucha.