Chernihiv deputies do not vote for transferring church in Korop to OCU

The Ascension Church in Korop. Photo: Suspilne

On 16 December, during a meeting of the Chernihiv Regional Council, the deputies did not vote in favor of transferring the Ascension Church in Korop, a protected architectural monument, to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) for long-term free use, reports Suspilne.

The chairperson of the regional council, Olena Dmytrenko, explained that legal proceedings regarding the ownership of the church are still ongoing. Prior to the vote, an amendment "after the conclusion of the legal processes" was added to the draft resolution, but the motion did not receive enough votes – only 25 deputies supported it.

It was reported that activists from the OCU submitted a request to the regional council asking for the church to be transferred to the jurisdiction of Epifaniy Dumenko's structure. Tetiana Nazarchuk, the initiator of the appeal, stated that there are no documents confirming the church’s ownership and, in her view, the UOC community is illegally occupying the temple.

Serhiy Svyrydov, Deputy Head of the Communal Property Department of the Chernihiv Regional Council, reported that in March 2024, the court ordered the regional council to register property rights for the church. However, this decision was appealed in the appellate court, and as of the time of the vote, questions regarding the building's ownership – whether state or municipal – were still being clarified.

The transfer of the church for long-term use will only be possible after a final court ruling. Furthermore, an agreement with the Ministry of Culture will be required to sign a contract, as the Ascension Church is a national cultural heritage monument.

A similar situation concerns several other religious sites in the Chernihiv region. According to Svyrydov, as of March 2024, 16 cases regarding religious property are being heard in court.

As reported by the UOJ, the Supreme Court denied the UOC the right to use the cathedral in Chernihiv.

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