UPTsMP PARISH TRANSFERS TO UPTsKP BECAUSE PRIEST REFUSED TO SERVE IN UKRAINIAN
Religiia v Ukraine, 11 February 2015
On 8 February 2015, the first liturgy in the Ukrainian language was held in the church consecrated to the Miracle of the Holy Captain of the Lord's Hosts Michael in Khony in the village of Novoselki of the Zdovuniv district of Rovno province. Residents of the village who objected to the refusal of the UPTsMP priest to conduct Ukrainian-language services transferred to the jurisdiction of the UPTsKP, Religiia v Ukaine reports, with reference to the UPTsKP website.
In accordance with the request of the church parish and with the blessing of Archbishop of Rovno and Ostrog Ilarion, a bishop of the UPTsKP, the Sunday liturgy was led by a the cleric of the Holy Dormition cathedral of the city of Zdolbunov, Archpriest Igor Sakovsky, with clergy from the diocese concelebrating.
During the worship service prayers were raised for peace in Ukraine, for the overcoming of church division, for the liberation of Ukraine from the invasion of the aggressor, and for God's help for troops who are defending the motherland from it.
Just recently the parish consecrated to the Miracle of the Holy Archangel of God Michael in Khony in the village of Novoselki of the Zdolbunov deanery was in the jurisdiction of the UPTs of the Moscow patriarchate. According to the testimony of residents of the village, parishioners wanted to transfer to the jurisdiction of UPTs of the Kiev patriarchate in 1995-1996 and 2004-2005. The residents of Novoselki recall that the majority of people were not attending the local church because of the negative position of the priest regarding the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian liturgical language. But the local authorities at the time blocked the adoption of a decision to transfer the parish.
However now there is involved the experience of other parishes, who by a collective decision of an overwhelming majority of villagers have renounced the jurisdiction of the Moscow patriarchate.
Back at the first of last year the villagers asked priest Andrei Kosik to take into account their request to serve in the Ukrainian language, which he refused, and he declared that he will never pray in the "uncanonical and graceless language," the UPTsKP website quotes him. The parishioners say that the negative attitude toward Ukraine of their pastor was displayed for a long time: the priest often refused to pray for the victims of Maidan and for dead Ukrainian troops, calling the war in the Donbass a civil and fratricidal war and frequently preaching about the "Russian World," Slavic unity, Orthodox schismatics, and the like.
In view of such circumstances, residents of the village of Novoselki collected signatures for reregistering the parish. When the necessary documents had been filled out, on 24 January residents of the village held a parish assembly at which they voted to conduct in the village a referendum for transferring the church to the UPTs of the Kiev patriarchate. In order to avoid disputes between parishioners regarding the choice of church jurisdiction the parish decided to seal the entrance to the church until the time of the referendum.
During this period, unidentified people often came to the village, including priests of the Moscow patriarchate, "with pro-Russian journalists who tried through threats and provocations to force people to change their decision," the UPTsKP website writes.
However, on 7 February, by secret ballot in which 198 parishioners participated, 190 voters supported the transfer of the parish into the jurisdiction of UPTs of the Kiev patriarchate and 4 ballots were ruled invalid and 4 persons wanted to remain within the UPTs of the Moscow patriarchate. In all there are 300 voters in Novoselki. In the village there also is a protestant congregation that involves several dozen persons.
After a count of the votes and the results of the referendum, parishioners of Novoselki assembled in the village club and held a meeting of residents, where the results of the vote were announced.
The UPTsKP website notes that "parishioners did not seize their church, which the whole village built, but together they transferred into the jurisdiction of UPTs of the Kiev patriarchate. They are worshiping in it in the same way as they did before, although in their native and comprehensible Ukrainian language. We also note that no agitation for this decision on the part of the Rovno diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev patriarchate was conducted and the residents of Novoselki made their decision voluntarily and conscientiously." (tr. by PDS, posted 11 February 2015)
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