Zadubrivka parish – to President: We voted for peace but shed blood instead

Crucifix in the UOC temple in honor of the Archangel Michael in Zadubrivka. Photo: screenshot of the video on the page of the Chernivtsi-Bukovina Diocese on Facebook

On May 19, 2020, parishioners of the St. Michael’s church of the UOC in the village of Zadubrivka of the Chernivtsi-Bukovina Diocese addressed President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky again in the hope of being heard.

“Hopefully, you will finally hear us. We voted for peace,” the words of the faithful were cited on the Facebook page of the eparchy.

Members of the religious community of the UOC from Zadubrivka explained that they had decided to appeal to Zelensky on the eve of his press conference following the results of the first year of his presidency. To the appeal, they attached a video of their address to the Head of State made a year ago, to which the President has never responded.

“This video message is also almost a year old but, unfortunately, it has not yet been responded to. Neither the second appeal nor the third one,” said members of the UOC religious community in Zadubrivka. “The result of this deafness is the recent massacre on May 4, on the day of the death of Father Leonid Delikatny. The assault brigade from the OCU broke the heads of the believers near the temple with the armature, inflicted knife wounds, and caused bloodshed of the innocent Christians.”

Parishioners of St. Michael’s Church asked the Head of State to explain why Ukrainians have been persecuted for their religious beliefs and why injustice becomes law.

“We again appeal to the president: ‘We voted for peace’. Nothing has changed this year. Except that the rector of the parish passed away after his health and nerves had been completely ruined. He had been defending his temple around the clock for 460 days,” the believers from Zadubrivka village emphasized.

On the night of May 4, 2020, adherents of the OCU made an attempt to seize the temple in Zadubrivka. This happened on the day of the death of its rector. During the raider attack, supporters of the church structure led by Epiphany Dumenko used tear gas against the faithful and stabbed one of the parishioners in his head.

On May 12, the UOC worshipers once again asked Zelensky to protect them.

Later, the UOC Chancellor, Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich) of Boryspil and Brovary, emphasized that the timely and fair response of the authorities to what happened in Zadubrivka on May 4 is crucial, because if evil remains unpunished, it can be repeated in other places.

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