Vinnitsa Eparchy rep tells how Shostatsky grabbed Transfiguration Cathedral

Спасо-Преображенский кафедральный собор Винницы. Фото: igotoworld.com

The former longtime sexton of the Transfiguration Cathedral of Vinnitsa, grabbed by ex-Metropolitan of the UOC Simeon (Shostatsky), spoke about the events that preceded the "peaceful transfer" of the cathedral community to the OCU.

The story of Rostislav Zagranichny, who remained faithful to the canonical Church and now carries out obedience at the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in Vinnytsia and is the subdeacon of Metropolitan Varsonofy (Stoliar) of Vinnitsa and Bar, was published on March 10, 2021, on the YouTube channel of the Vinnitsa Eparchy of the UOC.

“Vladyka Simeon said until the very last that he was not going to move anywhere, and even said during a sermon: ‘I am not going anywhere,’ said Rostislav, who was a direct eyewitness to all those events. “And, as I know, at the meeting of the dean priests, he told everyone that he was not going anywhere. There was no meeting in the cathedral, no one warned us, we were simply presented with a fact – either you stay or leave. As it became known later, church documents were falsified, and thus, supposedly in a peaceful way, the community passed to the OCU."

Fr Vladislav Demchenko, who fell into schism, announced that "Vladyka wants to go to the Ukrainian Local Church" to the ministers of the cathedral who gathered in the sacristy after the all-night vigil.

“There was no vote, there was no meeting, everything was done secretly, by deception. We were presented with a fact. And by the way, Fr Vitaly Goloskevich, who stayed in the cathedral, said himself: "How is that? Nobody told us anything, nobody gathered anyone," the former sexton of the cathedral emphasized.

According to Rostislav, a week before the so-called “unification council”, ex-Metropolitan Alexander (Drabinko) and representatives of the authorities came to Shostatsky. The main events, he added, took place on Friday.

“A lot of people, unfamiliar men came. For 12 years of my obedience at the Transfiguration Cathedral, I have known everyone. They stood until the end of the service. That day, Fr Vladislav Demchenko, the former secretary of the Vinnytsia Eparchy, led the strangers, showed them the corridors, all the entrances and exits. On the same day, our guards were removed, the strangers sat in their place, and a lock was attached to the gate.

<...> A lot of people came to the service on Saturday – about two-thirds of the church was full. And when, during the liturgy, Archdeacon Nikolai Kravets proclaimed the following words before the prayer from schism: "In the tenderness of your hearts, kneel before the Lord," none of them crossed themselves and did not kneel," said the former sacristan of the seized Transfiguration Cathedral.

As reported, Metropolitan Varsonofy (Stoliar) of Vinnitsia and Bar recalled what Shostatsky said about the UOC in 2014.
 

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