Ovruch authorities demand that UOC priests join the OCU or vacate temples

The deputies of the Ovruch city council demanded that the priests of the UOC in the Ovruch district either get to the OCU or vacate the churches.

Decision No. 1255 of April 27, 2022 “On the appeal of the deputies of the Ovruch City Council to the clergy and parishioners of the UOC parishes operating in the territory of the Ovruch Territorial Community” was published on the website of the Ovruch City Council on April 28, 2022.

The appeal is sustained in an aggressive and accusatory tone. According to the deputies, the UOC allegedly "appropriated the name ‘Ukrainian Orthodox Church’ for itself" and conducts anti-state activities.

According to the appeal, "the decision not to commemorate Patriarch Kirill at the Divine Liturgy does not mean that the structure of this pseudo-church, its leader and a number of its ‘clergymen’ are not collaborators and traitors."

The deputies of the Ovruch City Council expressed regret that not a single UOC priest in the Ovruch region had left the UOC since the outbreak of the war, and called for them to join the OCU.

“In order to consolidate the Ukrainian people, we call on the clergy of the UOC churches in the Ovruch district to withdraw from the Moscow Patriarchate… If you wish to continue serving the Moscow Patriarchate, we demand to vacate the churches that belong to the Ukrainian people. We urge the parishioners of this Church not to support the Moscow Patriarchate,” the Ovruch City Council noted.

As the UOJ reported earlier, the head of the Ovruch diocese turned to the police because of threats to priests.

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