ORTHODOX CHURCH SET ON FIRE AND ROBBED IN WESTERN UKRAINE
Interfax-Religiia, 23 November 2015
An incident of vandalism and robbery occurred in the Orthodox church of the Holy Trinity of the city of Rokitnoe in Rovno province of Ukraine.
The criminals stole money which was stored in the cashier's office of the church and they set fires in five spots of the building. The sacristy with vestments, altar gospel, and part of the floor were burned, the press service of the local diocese reports.
"In the past year, ten churches of the Sarny diocese were robbed and desecrated. It is a shame that vandals continue to destroy sacred things of the Polesye territory, causing pain in the hearts of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. By their actions, criminals cause a wound which bleeds the body of our church," the report quotes Metropolitan of Sarny and Polesye Anatoly.
After the start of military actions in Ukraine, UPTs churches in various residential areas of the country, including in Rovno province, have been subjected to attacks and seizures, on the part of representatives of the self-proclaimed Kiev patriarchate, and to robberies. (tr. by PDS, posted 25 November 2015)
Editorial disclaimer: RRN does
not intend to certify the accuracy of information
presented in articles. RRN simply intends to certify the
accuracy of the English translation of the contents of the
articles as they appeared in news media of countries of
the former USSR.
If material is quoted, please give credit to the
publication from which it came. It is not necessary to credit
this Web page. If material is transmitted electronically, please
include reference to the URL,
http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.