All the employees of the Cherkasy Regional State Administration were forced to go to St. Michael’s Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) on October 14.
According to gazeta.ua, it was not a voluntary event. “To be honest, we were forced to come to the church. There was no possibility of not attending. The officials were to gather at 8:15 a.m. in the First of May Park, where the Cathedral of St. Michael is located. In a few minutes, the governor appeared. He came inside. The heads of the departments followed him. The rest were allowed to go to their places of work,” said an employee of one of the departments, Serhii.
“I do not attend the Moscow Church on principle. I attend only the Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate. Why should I follow the governor to a foreign church? Has the freedom of worship been abolished in our country?”
The workers of the administration refused to tell their names and departments for fear of dismissal.
In September, Metropolitan Sofronii (Dmytruk) of Cherkasy refused to be included in the five of the Party of Regions running for the Cherkasy Regional Council. Nevertheless, in the region the UOC-MP openly supports the Party of Regions at the local elections. President Viktor Yanukovych is called a true Orthodox.