Cherkasy Metropolitan awards defenders of Nativity of Theotokos Convent

Metropolitan Feodosiy awarded the injured clerics and parishioners of the UOC. Photo: the Cherkasy Eparchy website

On 24 December 2023, during the liturgy at the Archangel Michael Cathedral of the Cherkasy, Metropolitan Feodosiy awarded the defenders of the Convent of the Nativity of the Theotokos, reports the website of the Cherkasy Eparchy.

The press service of the eparchy said that the clergyman of the convent, Priest Serhiy Pashchenko, who underwent surgery after a double fracture of the jaw, was granted the right to wear a gold pectoral cross and was awarded the insignia "For Faithfulness to the Church and Courage". The same insignia – the highest honours of the Cherkasy Eparchy – were awarded to other victims who defended the Cherkasy convent, being faithful to God and the canonical Church.

As reported, on 20 November 2023, a group of people in military uniforms staged a mass beating during the storming of the Cherkasy convent of the Nativity of the Theotokos (UOC), as a result of which 4 people were seriously injured. In addition to Priest Serhiy Pashchenko, who had his jaw broken, a 75-year-old parishioner Oleg Slobodianyk suffered a broken leg. Reader Viacheslav Korkots was diagnosed with a concussion. Deacon Serhiy Isaenko received a laceration.

Following the attempted seizure, the MP identified the attackers of the UOC convent in Cherkasy.

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