Department for External Church Relations
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Court ordered the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to leave the premises of the Eletsky convent in Chernigov
On the 26th of October, the Economic Court of the Chernigov region of Ukraine ruled that it is illegal for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be located in the premises of the Eletsky convent. This is reported by the Union of Orthodox Journalists with reference to the press service of the Ministry of Culture of the country. Thus, the court rejected the lawsuit of the Chernigov diocese, whose lawyers insisted on recognising the agreement on free use of the monastery as renewed.
The agency stated that the diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church "from the 15th of September 2021 to the present time, has illegally, without any legal basis, used the state property - the premises of the monument of architecture of national importance - Eletsky convent”. The Dormition Cathedral, Northern cells, Eastern cells, South-Western cells and walls with gates are located on the territory of the monastery.
On the 5th of October it was reported that armed men in camouflage uniforms had blocked the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Transfiguration Cathedral (on the ramparts) and Yeletsky Convent in Chernigov. Subsequently, representatives of the Ministry of Culture closed those churches under the pretext of the need for restoration.
The secretary of the Chernigov diocese said in a comment for the UOJ that the authorities had offered the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to sign new contracts for the use of the Eletsky convent. However, according to him, the new terms stipulated a very high rental price, which the diocese was unable to pay.
There are more than 40 sisters living at the Eletsky convent, some of whom are bedridden and two-thirds of whom are over 80 years old.
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