In the village of Pecheskoye, Khmelnitsky region of Ukraine, representatives of schismatics seized the Church of the Protection of the Theotokos

DECR Communication Service, 30.01.2024.

Raiders seized the Pokrovsky Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the village of Pecheskoye, Khmelnitsky region of Ukraine. On the 27^th of January, after a church service, local supporters of the schismatic structure "OCU" took possession of the church premises with the inaction of the police officers. "At the same time, the activists pushed out of the church its rector Archpriest Mikhail Furman and Archpriest Vitaly Duntz, dean of the Krasilovsky district," reports RIA Novosti citing information posted on the Khmelnytskyi diocese's page online.

According to the diocese, last October supporters of the "OCU" held an illegal meeting on the transfer of the church to the schismatic structure. It was attended by up to 40 people unrelated to the community of the parish. "The legislation of Ukraine does not provide for the convening and/or participation in the general meeting of a religious community by persons who are not its members. However, the norms of law were ignored, and on the 28^th of December 2023, Khmelnytsky Regional Military Administration re-registered the charter of the religious organisation "St. Pokrovsky Parish of Khmelnytsky Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church"," the diocese noted. It was stressed that the real members of the religious community "did not change their subordination in organisational and canonical matters, but remain in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church".

Members of the parish community intend to appeal to state and international legal institutions to protect their rights.

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In the village of Pecheskoye, Khmelnitsky region of Ukraine, representatives of schismatics seized the Church of the Protection of the Theotokos

Patriarch

Department Chairman

Sermons

Patriarch

Department Chairman

Sermons