Department for External Church Relations
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Schismatics have captured a church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Khmelnitsky region
DECR Communication Service, 09.06.2023.
On June 8, in the village of Korzhevtsy, Khmelnitsky region, Ukraine, ‘OCU’ supporters, with the help of representatives of the local governing bodies and in the presence of police officers, captured the St. Peter church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
As the Union of Orthodox Journalists reports with reference to the Diocese of Khmelnitsky press service, on May 27, local ‘activists’ sealed up the church and the cottage without permission. In the recent times, the rector of the parish, Hieromonk Feodosy (Slobodnyak) has been called up by ‘OCU’ supporters who threatened him and demanded that he should switch to their organization and hand over the church keys.
In the morning of 8th June, the rector had another talk with the local ‘dean’ of the ‘OCU’. The latter threatened Father Theodosy again and tried to persuade him to hand over the keys voluntarily.
After that, the ‘OCU’ activists who assembled near the church chanting ‘away with the Moscow parson’ and other offensive yells, cut off the locks form the church door and the cottage and replaced them with other locks. The personal belongings of the clergy and parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were left in the church and the cottage.
It was planned to revive on the basis of the Parish of St. Peter the Monastery dedicated to the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God, which was active in Korzhevtsy from 1742 to 1932. At the time of the raid, the three monks who were serving and working in the parish were driven out.
In view of the violations of the law by ‘OCU’ supporters, the community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has filed petitions to the police already three times but no reaction followed.
On April 30, a general meeting took place at the St. Peter church at which the faithful voted in favour of remaining in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church headed by His Beatitude Onuphry, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine. On the same day, the ‘OCU’ held their own meeting in the village and ‘decided’ to transfer the Parish of St. Peter to the schismatic structure headed by Epiphany Dumenko.
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