The congregation of the Church of St. George in Lviv, which belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, has voted to transition to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Zaxid media outlet reported on April 5.
According to Zaxid, the process included some heated exchanges and disputes, but the vote concluded with the church's service being performed in Ukrainian.
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which was granted autocephaly (ecclesiastical independence) by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople in January 2019, is not to be confused with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Recently, Kyiv ordered the religious leaders from the Moscow Patriarchate to leave the premises of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, the church's stronghold.
Multiple cities in Ukraine have revoked the land rights of churches belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate or prohibited them from continuing to hold services.
According to Zaxid, the Church of St. George in Lviv belonged to the church community and Lviv city officials were deliberating transferring the land rights to the city.
On April 4, the Khmelnytskyi Сity Сouncil revoked the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate's land rights after a military officer was assaulted at their place of worship.
The Kamianets-Podilskyi City Council did the same on April 4, along with prohibiting the church from operating in the city.
Ukraine has long accused the Moscow Patriarchate's representatives in Ukraine of serving as the Kremlin's propaganda arm on the religious front.
A priest of the Moscow-controlled church was charged by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on April 4 with blessing Russian soldiers during the occupation of Kharkiv Oblast.
Francis Farrell
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