Hundreds of Chernovtsy region believers oppose the seizure of temples

Prayerful standing of believers of vlg. Glybokaya near the DSA

On February 7, 2019, hundreds of priests and believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the village of Glybokaya of the Chernovtsy region, led by Archbishop Longin of Bancheny, walked in a cross procession from the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin to the walls of the District State Administration. There they stood in prayer, protesting against unlawful interference in the affairs of religious communities, reports the UOC Information and Education Department.

“Prayerful standing is a protest against the lawlessness and seizures of temples of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” the parishioners say. “But we, Orthodox Christians, have a special power — the power of prayer, which can do more than any other powers.”

The head of the Glybokata DSA, Georgy Prydiy, guaranteed to the participants that neither he nor the administration would interfere in the affairs of religious communities and ensure the rights of all believers in the district.

“The exclusive right to regulate church relations belongs to a religious community, and we will do everything possible so that the religious community of a particular settlement would decide what church life in the village should be,” said the head of the District State Administration.

In response to the fakes spread by the media, that seven church communities in the region decided to transfer to the OCU, the Chernovtsy eparchy claims that the religious communities of the villages of Karapchiv, Boyanchuk, Horoshovtsy, Yaseny, Zadubrivka, and Vaslovovtsy remained in the bosom of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Individuals, who in some villages illegally took over temples, passed to the OCU.

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