UOC-MP consecrats bishop for Luhansk region
On December 9, 2019, the Metropolitan of the UOC-MP led the divine Liturgy in the Church of St. Anthony and Theodosius of the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the Information and Educational Department of the UOC-MP reports.
The service was followed by the consecration of Archimandrite Pavlo (Valuysky) as Bishop of Belovodsk, vicar of the diocese of Luhansk. The decision to elect a new Bishop was made by the Holy Synod of the UOC-MP on December 6.
At the end of the divine service the Primate spoke to the Bishop of Belovodsk Pavlo and handed him a Bishop's staff. According to tradition, the Hierarch gave the faithful his first archpastoral blessing and received congratulations.
As RISU reported, the day before, on December 8, in Nizhyn, in Chernihiv region, representatives of the UOC-MP ordained the Crimean priest-separatist Kalinik (Chernyshov) without publicity. This clergyman "became famous" for actively contributing to the occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in the spring of 2014. For this he received a reward from the occupiers and boasted a lot about it.