RECTOR OF ROMAN CATHOLIC PARISH FORCED TO LEAVE OCCUPIED CRIMEA
The rector of a Roman Catholic parish in Simferopol Father Peter was forced to leave Crimea. The clergyman was unable to obtain a permit for residence, despite promised help from the "prosecutor's office" and "head" of Crimea.
This was reported by the Center of Journalistic Research, with reference to information from the deputy director of the Crimean Field Mission for Human Rights, Dmitry Makarov. According to his information, Father Peter, who is a citizen of Poland, submitted a packet of documents required for obtaining a permit for residence, but he received a refusal from a special commission. The priest thinks that this has placed in doubt the existence of this church parish on the peninsula.
He turned for help in resolving the situation to "the head of Crimea," Sergei Aksenov, and Prosecutor Natalia Poklonskaia. They promised the rector of the Roman Catholic parish in the Crimean capital to conduct a check of the decision of the special commission and assured him that the basis for the refusal could not be the lack of a need for creating a Roman Catholic Church parish on the territory of Crimea.
"We talked with the head of the Roman Catholic parish, who even reached out to Aksenov and the prosecutor of Crimea, who promised that there would be no problems. But several weeks later he was forced to depart, since there had been no resolution of the problem with documents. Despite the fact that he went to the very top and all promises were received. This does not in any way add to confidence in the authorities," D. Makarov reported.
He also noted that religious societies and institutions in Crimea are having difficulties with reregistration. In addition, many clergymen are foreigners, and for continuing work in Crimea they must receive a permit for temporary residence.
"Many religious institutions have functioned in Crimea for a long time and legally, but a new legal reality has arrived. They must reregister all over again, but there are no answers as to how to register the ownership of a parish and how to transfer it. They are advised to create themselves all over again, without taking account of their history. For many this evokes misunderstanding and rejection," the rights advocate added.
Rents have been raised several times for the Crimean diocesan administration of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev patriarchate. The bishop of Simferopol and Crimea of UPTsKP maintains that churches have been intentionally taken from the diocese with the goal of ending the activity of this church on the territory of the republic. (tr. by PDS, posted 22 November 2014)
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