Three Orthodox parishes join the UGCC

On Sunday, June 14, St. Demetrius parish joined the UGCC in Kharkiv.

Archbishop Igor (Isichenko) wrote about this on his Facebook page.

"A truly historic event took place in Kharkiv. At the meeting of St. Demetrius parish, the faithful of the UAOC voted for the transfer to the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. This was preceded by a long journey of five years from the XXV diocesan Council on April 1, 2015," said Archbishop Igor.

Protection of the temple during the meeting was provided by the fighters of the Kharkiv cell of the "Right Sector".

According to the website of the Kharkiv-Poltava Diocese of the UAOC (o), with 70 official members of the parish, 68 people attended them. Almost unanimously (for one parishioner who abstained on two issues), they resolved to:

• Withdraw from the Kharkiv-Poltava Diocese of the UAOC (o).
• Transfer to the jurisdiction of the Kharkiv Exarchate of the UGCC
• Make appropriate changes to the Charter of St. Demetrios parish of Kharkiv.
• Appeal to the Right Reverend Bishop Vasily (Tuchapets), Exarch of Kharkiv, with a request to approve the decision of the general meeting and the new version of the parish Charter.
• Update the Kharkiv Regional State Administration on the change in the parish status, register a new version of the Charter and make relevant changes to the Unified State Register (EDRPOU).

According to the diocesan website, during the last week, the parishes of St. George's parish also joined the UGCC in Poltava and the Holy Transfiguration Parish in Lozova.

The participants of the meeting decided to appeal to the Exarch of the Kharkiv, Bishop Vasyl (Tuchapets) with a request to accept them into the Exarchate of Kharkiv of the UGCC.