In Volyn believers of seized temples pray in old houses and sheds

In Volyn, UOC believers are compelled to pray in abandoned houses

In Volyn, parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, whose temples were seized, are accommodating old houses, village clubs, and even sheds for worship services. This was discussed at a meeting with head of the Volyn Regional State Administration Alexander Savchenko, the portal volynnews.com reports.

Alexander Savchenko said that in the villages “where the majority of the community decided to pass to the OCU, the church was also transferred together with the community”. At the same time, the head of the RSA acknowledged that there had remained believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in these localities, who are forced to hold services in “places outside the church”.

According to Savchenko, village houses, clubs and even sheds are used for this. The state official noted that many priests and parishioners are convinced that in a few months the situation with the transitions to the OCU will change and “therefore, they are not in a hurry to make decisions” (apparently with changing jurisdiction – Ed.).

“They say that elections will be held and the situation will change. But the Tomos was not issued to the president or some other person,” says the head of the Volyn Regional State Administration.

Recall that only recently in the territory of the Volyn region, temples in the populated areas of Berestechko, Berestianoye, Bobichi, Golyshev, Dikoviny, Krasnovolia, Krymno, Kutrov, Kulchin, Kropivshchina, Luchitsy, Nichegovka, Polozhevo, Radomyshl, Sadov, Telchi, Topolishche have been illegally seized, and this trend is growing steadily.

As the UOJ reported, Metropolitan Vladimir (Melnik) of Vladimir-Volynsky and Kovel and Bishop Naphanail (Krikota) of Volyn and Lutsk officially addressed Alexander Savchenko, the head of the Volyn Regional State Administration, regarding the situation in light of the formation of a new church structure – OCU. In their address, the hierarchs of the UOC noted that local authorities interfere in the internal affairs of religious communities.

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