In Sumy, the "enthronement" of a new "patriarch" of the UOC KP took place
Nikodim Kobzar became the "patriarch" of the UOC-KP.
On June 7, 2026, a ceremony of "enthronement" of the head of the Kyiv Patriarchate Nikodim Kobzar took place at the Epiphany Church of the UOC-KP in Sumy. Several "hierarchs" of this religious organization attended the event.
"Bishop" of Odesa and Balta Nikon Grablyuk addressed Nikodim with a speech in which he declared that he now bears responsibility "for the entire fullness of the local Orthodox church" and is the "spiritual leader of the nation."
He emphasized that even while being a bishop in the UOC-KP, Nikodim did not disdain to visit the parish in the village of Grunivka, although only a few people attended services there.
According to Grablyuk, Nikodim accepts the UOC-KP "like a mustard seed – equally small and defenseless."
"But we know that from this smallest seed grows a great tree, in whose branches even birds build nests. We believe that this will also be the case with the Ukrainian church," he said.
"Patriarchal vicar" in the Czech Republic Evgeny Sigizmund Freymann presented Nikodim with an order and declared that Nikodim is now a "general of the army" and "grand knight of the order" registered with the UN. According to Freymann, the first person in it is the Patriarch of Alexandria, the second is Nikodim.
Nikodim himself emphasized that he considers himself the fourth patriarch after Mstislav Skrypnyk, Volodymyr Romanyuk, and Filaret Denysenko, and that members of the UOC-KP are "heirs to the great idea for which the best sons of Ukraine prayed, labored, and died."
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the UOC-KP created a "vicariate" in Cyprus.
