CONFLICT BETWEEN UPTsKP AND UPTsMP ARISES OVER CHURCH IN LVOV REGION
In the village of Shpikolosy, Sokal district, in the Lvov region, on 17 March an inter-confessional conflict occurred: priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow patriarchate (UPTsMP) closed the church of the Most Holy Trinity and did not permit a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev patriarchate (UPTsKP) and believers, local residents, to enter. This was reported by Kristinopil.info, citing the public formation [GF] "Chervonograd Self-Defense."
In order to reach the church building, believers appealed for help from activists of the GF "Chervonograd Self-Defense," the Right Sector, and the Chervonograd cell of the All-Ukrainian Public Organization [VOO] "Sokol."
Reinforcements arrived to help the UPTsMP priest—several priests from Lvov and neighboring Volyn oblasts.
Personnel of the Sokal division of the national police and the Ukrainian security service also arrived at the site of the incident.
As a result of the confrontation, residents decided to organize a local plebiscite with the collection of signatures in support of one confession or the other.
RISU was told at the Lvov oblast state administration that the UPTsMP parish was registered in the village back in 1991; then it received ownership of the local church building. In 2017, when the church administration sent a new priest to the village, the faithful decided to transfer to the UPTsKP. In accordance with the requirement of the charter, the parish was supposed to conduct a meeting with the participation of a priest; however the priest refused to participate. Consequently the believers decided to register a new parish of the UPTsKP. On 1 March 2018, the Lvov oblast state administration registered it. The new parish still does not have legal right to the church building. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 March 2018)
METROPOLITAN: PARISHES OF CANONICAL CHURCH DRIVEN FROM UPTs CHURCH BUILDINGS IN UKRAINE
The Moscow patriarchate is calling attention to the continuing "hostile takeovers" of church buildings of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UPTs) in Ukraine.
"Parishes of the canonical church are being driven out of church buildings and new, unidentified people are being introduced there by force. After this, a church building is transferred to the schismatics. However at the present time, there do not exist any legal mechanisms that permit establishing who these people are who are calling themselves 'the parish of the church building,'" the chairman of the Department of External Church Relations (OVTsS) of the Moscow patriarchate, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk Ilarion, declared on a live broadcast of the program "Church and World" on the Rossiia-24 television channel.
He said that in this situation, there are no grounds to suppose that this really is some different parish: "They may simply be 'decoy ducks,' or people who have been sent there in order to seize the church building."
The chairman of OVTsS emphasized that this situation occurs with the apparent connivance of local authorities. Moreover, there are draft laws on the agenda of the Verkhovna Rada that, in the event of their adoption, will permit such a practice to be legalized. "Practically any group of people will be able to arrive at any village and say: 'We are the parish of this church building and we are voting for this church building to be transferred to the schismatics,'" the RPTs hierarch concluded. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 March 2018)
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