The Romanian Patriarchate, noting with regret and sadness that services in the Romanian language can no longer be held in Chernivtsi’s Chapel of the Bukovina Metropolitans, who spoke and officiated religious services in Romanian, stands in solidarity with the Orthodox Romanians of Chernivtsi, who call for the reopening of the historic chapel for religious services officiated in Romanian.
“Although the Romanian clergy and believers from the Chernivtsi region are not members of the Romanian Orthodox Church, but belong to another Orthodox Church, we cannot remain indifferent to the confiscation by the authorities, with various administrative justifications, of a Romanian symbol of identity and to the violation of the religious freedom of Romanian Orthodox Christians,” reads a statement by the Press Office of the Romanian Patriarchate.
“Therefore, we join the Romanian organisations who have written to us and request the Romanian authorities to intervene by the Ukrainian authorities, so that Romanians may be free to pray in their language and to come to the Romanian Orthodox Church if they so wish.”
The “Holy Three Hierarchs” Chapel in Chernivtsi, also known as the Metropolitans’ Chapel, has a significant cultural and historical significance for the Romanian community in the region.
In the crypt under the chapel repose the following Romanian hierarchs of the Bukovina region: Bishop Dositei Herescu of Bukovina (1710-1789), Bishop Ipolit Vorobchievici of Rădăuți (1849-1939) and the following Metropolitans of Bukovina: Teofil Bendela (1814-1875), Teoctist Blajevici (1807-1879), Silvestru Morariu-Andrievici (1818-1895), Arcadie Ciupercovici (1823-1902), Vladimir Repta (1841-1926), and Nectarie Cotlarciuc (1875-1937).
The Bukovina Metropolitans’ Chapel was sealed by the Chernivtsi City Hall on August 23, 2024, after cancelling the 1990 decision to assign the chapel to the “St Nicholas” Parish from Chernivtsi, Ukraine.
Photo credit: BucPress
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