Police seal church in Pogreby after seizure by OCU activists

The Holy Assumption Church in Pogreby. Photo: UOJ

On Saturday, August 10, 2019, about 30-40 activists of the OCU attempted to seize the Holy Assumption Church in the village of Pogreby of the Brovary district, Kiev region, which has been closed for several months due to a religious conflict in the village. Archpriest Aleksey Nosenko, the head of the Legal Department of the Borispol Eparchy of the UOC, reported on the incident to the UOJ.

According to the clergyman, immediately after the OCU activists getting into the temple, a police squad was called up.

Law enforcers took everyone outside the church premises and sealed the temple. In order to avoid the development of the conflict, the police posted a guard at the temple.

As reported by the UOJ, since February this year, there have been attempts to forcibly transfer the Holy Assumption Church in Pogreby to the OCU, despite the decision of the religious community to remain in the bosom of the canonical Church. On March 17, representatives of the territorial community, who are not parishioners, voted to move to the OCU and entered the church during the service. Arriving at the scene, the police took everyone out of the church premises.

After a series of conflicts with adherents of the new church structure, the faithful of the canonical Church decided to refrain from praying in the church so that peace would be preserved in the village and they would perform services at closed doors. But on June 11, OCU activists took over the church house of the religious community of Pogreby, spraying tear gas in the face of the guard.

We recall that the question of the religious affiliation of the community of the Holy Assumption Church is being considered in court, and at the moment, OCU representatives do not have any rights to the church or the church house.

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