Romanian Patriarchate Dissatisfied with Ukraine's Actions: Romanians Deprived of Historic Chapel
The city authorities of Chernivtsi, as part of the fight against the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, requisitioned the historic Chapel of the Three Saints, where a number of the first hierarchs of the historic Bukovinian Metropolitanate of the Romanian Church are buried.
The Romanian Patriarchate expressed "regret and sadness" over the fact that services in Romanian are no longer held at the Bukovina Metropolitan Chapel , reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“We cannot remain indifferent to the confiscation by the authorities, under various administrative justifications, of the symbol of Romanian identity and the violation of the freedom of religious beliefs of Orthodox Romanians,” the press service of the Romanian Patriarchate said in a statement.
The Chapel of the Three Hierarchs in Chernivtsi has an important historical and cultural significance for the local Romanian population: eight ruling bishops of the Bukovinian Metropolitanate from the 18th to the 20th century are buried in the crypt under the chapel. In 1990, back in the Soviet Union, the dilapidated chapel was transferred to the Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the main church of the Chernivtsi diocese of the UOC. At the same time, in churches where the parishioners were ethnic Romanians, the UOC conducted services in Romanian.
After the Verkhovna Rada banned the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church and related organizations in Ukraine on August 20, the Three Saints Chapel was sealed by the city authorities of Chernivtsi. At the same time, the decision to transfer the chapel for worship to the Romanian community was made by the city council back in April 2023.
Among the reasons, city authorities cite the decision of the Supreme Arbitration Court of Ukraine from 1996 that chapels cannot be used for mass religious rituals, and the inclusion of the chapel in a special register of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports as an architectural monument of local significance. Since the monument is located in the historical center of the city, the mayor's office says, no events can be held in the building without permission from the authorities.
Representatives of the Romanian community in Chernivtsi say that the OCU will use the chapel, as before, to conduct services, only now exclusively in the Ukrainian language.
"So, the authorities have put an end to their real intentions for many years. The most important thing was to remove us, Romanians, and not the fact that the church was allegedly not suitable for worship," the National Council of Romanians of Ukraine states in an open letter addressed to the President of Romania, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Eugen Patras, vice-president of the Romanian Cultural Center named after Evdoksie Gurmuzaki in Chernivtsi, calls the decision of the Ukrainian authorities "a profound act of disdain for Romanians in general and for Romanians of Bukovina in particular."
“It is humiliating to see how Ukrainian Romanians are fighting side by side with Ukrainians for the freedom of Ukraine, while at home – in the north of Bukovina – the municipality of Chernivtsi is selling the graves of Romanians and putting increasing pressure on the Orthodox churches,” Patras sprinkled ashes on his head.