On January 3, 2023, Metropolitan Onufriy, in concelebration of the bishops of the UOC-MP, officiated at the liturgy and episcopal consecration in the church in honor of St. Agapit of Caves of the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
This is reported by the Information and Education Department of the UOC-MP.
Archimandrite Veniamin (Voloshchuk), a clergyman of the Diocese of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna, has become the new bishop of the UOC-MP. He was ordained as a bishop of Boyarka, Vicar of the Kyiv Metropolia. Bishop Veniamin will carry out a ministry of the administrator of parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Abroad.
Before the beginning of the Liturgy, a special rite was performed. The candidate for the episcopal rank proclaimed a confession of faith.
The Primate of the UOC-MP was concelebrated by Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chornobyl, Vicar of the Lavra, Metropolitan Meletiy of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna, head of the Department for External Church Relations of the UOC, and Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary, Chair of the UOC Department for External Church Relations.
The message says that during the liturgy, they prayed: "For peace on the Ukrainian land; for deliverance from the enemy; that the Lord would have mercy on our people and preserve those who are in despair, heal the sick and give shelter to those who are deprived of a home."
After the liturgy, the Primate of the UOC-MP addressed Bishop Veniamin of Boyarka and presented him with the bishop's rod. Traditionally, His Eminence Veniamin blessed the faithful for the first time as a bishop.