After the first Ukrainian-language liturgy was celebrated at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Cherkasy in central Ukraine on Thursday (Oct. 17), rival groups of Orthodox Christians clashed violently outside the church in a continuing skirmish between those loyal to the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church and supporters of the relatively new Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
The brawl, which is being investigated by police, comes in the wake of a law signed in August by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month effectively banning the UOC because of its Russian ties. Though the law has been justified by credible evidence that a few UOC priests have been caught spying for Russia, it has also brought criticism in Ukraine and from abroad that Zelenskyy is impinging on Ukrainians’ religious freedom.
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