OCU activists expel Bishop Pimen from the temple in his native village

Supporters of the OCU wanted to expel Bishop Pimen from St. John the Theologian church in Kopytov they had seized before

On Sunday, September 1, 2019, representatives of the OCU community tried by force to expel the vicar of the Rovno Eparchy of the UOC, Bishop Pimen of Dubno from the church in honor of St. John the Theologian having been grabbed by them before in the village of Kopytov, Korets district, Rovno region. This was reported by the UOJ correspondent.

The vicar came to his native village to visit his parents.

“It's the fifth month that the church I used to go to as a child has been in the hands of the OCU proponents,” said Bishop Pimen. “The entrance to the temple for me and other believers, who have chained our hearts to the temple, is prohibited. So I decided to approach their "priest", who now lives in the same village, and ask for permission to go inside. "He kindly agreed, led me to the temple, but on having seen this, the activists who live nearby came and started to kick me out, call me names – my subdeacon partially recorded this on video."

Vladyka noted that the men behaved extremely inadequately, and even the “priest” of the new religious structure failed to bring them to senses. The verbal skirmish lasted for 20 minutes, the former villagers threatened and cursed, and in the end even called for help from the neighboring village.

“I did not intend to inflame this conflict – I just wanted to enter the temple. I believe that I have the right to do so. I tried to talk, to explain it, but in vain: I had to leave the church, no matter how heart-tearing it might have been. As I was leaving, I saw the cyclists from the neighboring village out of the car, who were probably going to expel the “Moscow priest”. I recalled the words of the Gospel: ‘Forgive them, Lord, for they do not know what they are doing’,” added Bishop Pimen.

Recall, on April 13, 2019, activists of the new church structure, with the support of the SBU and the police, seized the church of St. John the Theologian in the village of Kopytov. During the raider attack, they brutally beat the rector of the temple and his parishioners, after which one believer was hospitalized and the ambulance was called to help the rector.

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