The decision to transfer the church in the village of Kolybaevka, Kamenetz-Podolsk district, Khmelnytsky region, to the jurisdiction of the so-called Ukrainian Orthodox Church (OCU) was made without taking into account the opinion of the local religious community, the The Union of Orthodox Journalists news agency reported on March 1.
According to the rector of the Archangel-Mikhailovsky Church, Archpriest Tarasy Kavul, the authorities of the Khmelnytsky region transferred the church to the jurisdiction of the OCU by his decision, without informing him.
He noted that the community of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) headed by him held a meeting in June 2022, during which it was stated that it was necessary to remain faithful to Patriarch Onufry of the UOC. The relevant documents were sent to the regional state administration.
In August 2022, the village’s residents, most of whom, according to Kavul, are not related to the local Orthodox religious community, organized an event, after which they announced that they were under the control of OCU Patriarch Epifaniy.
The letter proving the illegality of the decision made by supporters of the OCU, sent by Kavulya to the governor of the Khmelnytsky region, was not taken into account.
“Our people are tense. They know why supporters of the OCU fight and with what methods. They are afraid of physical collisions, at least breaking doors, cutting locks, maybe even in the presence of the police, as is often the case with us. When the police blindly see nothing and try by all means to disassociate us from the fact that, as they say in such cases, we are not in conflict, that is, we cannot protect our temples”. – said the priest of the temple.
Recall that on February 27, the religious community of the village of Kolybaevka was able to resist demands to transfer the church under the jurisdiction of the OCU, however, the officials ignored all legitimate demands of local residents and made a decision in favor of the policy of destruction of the canonical Orthodox Church followed by the leadership of Ukraine.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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