Khmelnytsky "bishop" admits into OCU officials in the guise of UOC parish

Yurystyi received officials under the guise of the UOC community in Dovzhok. Photo: Facebook of the Khmelnytsky diocese of the OCU

On August 25, 2023, Khmelnytsky 'Bishop' Pavlo Yuristyi announced on Facebook about the inclusion of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary temple in the village of Dovzhok into the OCU.

Yuristyi published a photograph with Alla Chepeliuk, the press secretary of the city council of Kamyanets-Podilsky, and Yaroslav Klyzub, an advisor to the mayor and a Greek Catholic. The text states that these individuals supposedly represent the "authorized community members of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos temple in Dovzhok village."

"After a recent general assembly, the said religious community, with an overwhelming majority of parishioner votes, made a decision to break away from the Moscow Patriarchate's authority and join the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Upon the request of the people, the leader of the Khmelnytsky Eparchy – His Eminence Bishop Pavlo – officially received the parish into the OCU and certified it with the corresponding document," assures the Khmelnytsky Eparchy of the OCU in its publication.

Recalling that on August 20, supporters of the OCU in the village of Dovzhok, located in the suburb of Kamyanets-Podilskyi, attempted to seize the temple in honor of the Nativity of the Mother of God. Several dozen individuals, unrelated to the religious community of the temple, arrived at the church while the actual parishioners were reading the akathist in the temple. Provocateurs and activists tried several times to break through the church gates, but their attempts were unsuccessful. People with satanic symbols on their clothes participated in the attack on the Dovzhok temple.

According to the testimony of the parishioners, the organization of the fake meeting and direct participation were carried out by officials from the Kamyanets-Podilsky city council. They called this a revenge for the fact that pilgrims, contrary to local authorities' bans, took part in a cross procession to the Pochaiv Lavra. The procession traditionally starts precisely from the UOC temple in Dovzhok.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that a woman who advocated for the conversion of the church to the OCU died in Dovzhok after the failed church raid.

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