Authorities in Lviv seize UOC cathedral

UOC parishioners expelled from their cathedral in Lviv. Photo: Screenshot from Instagram broadcast on the page of Metropolitan Filaret

On April 5, 2023, the community of the UOC cathedral in Lviv was transferred to the control of Epiphanius Dumenko's structure by authorities, activists, and representatives of the OCU. This was announced on his Facebook page by the head of the Lviv Regional Administration, Maksym Kozytsky.

"The church in Taras Bobanych Street in Lviv. Now in the church, they are putting an end to the so-called Moscow Patriarchate. Parishioners are deciding to transfer to the OCU. I hope that soon this church will become the Garrison Church of the OCU," Kozytsky wrote.

In the video posted by the official, a person resembling Kozytsky is seen standing on the church solea, saying: "We have a very significant historical opportunity in this church to vote to separate from the UOC MP and join the OCU, and to be with all global Orthodoxy, to be on the side of good."

At the same time, the Lviv diocese of the UOC denies a voluntary transition. The Lviv diocesan administration reports that on March 5 at 9:00 AM, unknown individuals (up to 50 people) entered the territory of the Cathedral and blocked the entrance to the territory and the church.

"Unknown people, chaired by Yuriy Kholod, Deputy Chairman of the Lviv Regional Council, held a parish meeting about the transition of the church community to the OCU," the statement reads. The press service states that one of the OCU 'priests' participated in the meeting.

"An important point is that they disrupted the Divine Liturgy. We see the actions of OCU clerics going beyond any Christian, even moral, perception. We inform that the religious community of the parish of St. George the Great Martyr has made no decisions about transitioning to the OCU," the statement says.

The live Instagram broadcast of Metropolitan Filaret of Lviv clearly features the police forcing parishioners to leave their church.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the mayor of Lviv spoke about his plans for UOC property.

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