Raiders "transfer" UOC community with fixed membership to OCU in vlg. Luh

Temple in the name of the Holy Spirit in Luh village. Photo: orthodoxkhust.org.ua

The press service of the Khust diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church denied the OCU’s report that the community of the Holy Spirit Church of the UOC in the village of Luh, Rakhiv region of Transcarpathia, allegedly decided to convert to Dumenko’s organization.

The diocese notes that the “decision” on the “transition” was made on July 30, 2023, at a meeting of local residents who are not related to the Holy Spirit parish.

“On July 30, 2023, in the village of Luhy, in the House of Culture, there was a meeting not of the religious community of the Holy Spirit Church but of the territorial community, which was attended by representatives of different faiths, i.e. not parishioners of the above temple,” the press service notes. “In accordance with the current legislation, the religious community of the Holy Spirit Church in this locality has fixed membership, and none of the members of the community called a general meeting.”

The diocese noted that "the choice of the jurisdiction of the parish constitutes an exclusive right of the religious community and does not belong to the range of issues subject to a local referendum."

“We reiterate: ‘religious community’ and ‘territorial community’ are not identical concepts and are not interchangeable! Members or the clergy of other religious communities with local registration ('propiska') cannot convene a meeting and make such decisions,” writes the press service of the Khust diocese.

It also noted that the community of the Holy Spirit Church at the parish meeting held on July 23 unanimously voted to remain part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The believers documented their decision in the minutes and informed the head of the Transcarpathian regional state administration and the director of the Department of Culture of the Regional State Administration about it in writing.

Due to the dissemination of false information by representatives of the OCU, the community intends to contact law enforcement agencies.

As the UOJ reported, the newly created community of the OCU in the village of Vydniv, Lviv region, intends to take away the temple from the believers of the UOC through the court.

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