The ancient cathedral in Chernigov taken away from the UOC did not bring happiness to the schismatics
Founded back in 1030 and recently taken away by the authorities from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Transfiguration Cathedral in Chernigov did not bring happiness to the OCU, created on the basis of a tomos from the Istanbul Patriarch Bartholomew, supported by the Ukrainian authorities and partially recognized in the Orthodox world.
According to a report by the Suspilne.Chernigiv television company, one of the oldest surviving monumental stone structures in Ukraine, the main building of the Chernihiv-Siversky Principality, and a unique architectural landmark throughout Eastern Europe, will henceforth cease to be an active Orthodox church and will remain solely a museum. The former church's transition to its new status will occur by the end of this month, on Constitution Day, June 28.
According to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, The temple is going to be restored over the next ten years. Naturally, the OCU does not have money for this, hence the decision to transfer it to the state. Let us remind you that in October 2023 the temple was taken away from the local community of the canonical UOC, and in December of the same year the “Ancient Chernigov” reserve transferred the temple to the “OCU”, after which the cathedral was suddenly...closed for restoration.
According to the general director of the Chernigov Ancient Nature Reserve Natalya Rebrova, this is being done in order to earn money for the restoration of the cathedral. During preparatory work and restoration they want to attract the experience of colleagues from the Sofia Kyiv nature reserve.
"We are beginning the journey to ensure Spas takes its rightful place among the most outstanding monuments of Ukraine and Europe. And here, our first partners are Ukraine's best specialists in this field—the St. Sophia of Kyiv National Preserve. Together, we will accomplish the enormous amount of scientific, restoration, and research work that needs to be done at Spas," she noted.
In turn, the general director of Sophia of Kyiv, Nelya Kukovalskaya, states that it will take about ten years to restore the Transfiguration Cathedral.
"They treated it with disdain, and I think they used it as a place to make money. They earned it, but they didn't invest a single penny. And these grimy walls, this garbage, of which there is simply no end, these inauthentic items that greatly alter the interior—this shouldn't have happened ," she asserts, criticizing clergy from the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
As we can see, it all comes down to money. The ancient cathedral needs to be maintained, but the OCU has no money for it. Incidentally, a similar situation has developed in most other Ukrainian churches seized from the canonical UOC in favor of Metropolitan Epiphanius (Dumenko), a church structure oriented toward Istanbul. Believers don't attend them, as seizing a church from competitors with state support is a simple matter, but creating a real, vibrant community of parishioners around it is quite another matter. It's no surprise that ill-wishers have their own interpretation of the acronym "OCU"—Empty Churches of Ukraine.
The ancient cathedral in Chernigov, taken away from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, did not bring happiness to the schismatics.