Report drawn up against Met. Longin for organising a religious procession

On September 24, 2022, the police of the Chernivtsi region drew up a protocol against the rector of the Ascension Bancheny Monastery of the UOC, Metropolitan Longin, for violating the ban of the regional Defense Council on holding mass events during the war, reports molbuk.ua.

“On September 24, representatives of several religious communities went on a religious procession to the monastery in the village of Boyany. By their actions, the pilgrims violated the ban of the Defense Council of the Chernivtsi region on holding such events. The police documented the illegal actions of believers and filed an administrative report against the organizer of the procession under Article 185-1 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses (Violation of the procedure for organising and holding meetings, rallies, street marches and demonstrations)," said Karolina Marysheva, head of the Communication Department of the National Police in the Chernivtsi region. She recalled that in August 2022, the head of the Chernivtsi RMA banned religious processions in the territory of Bukovyna, as stated in the decision of the Defense Council of the Chernivtsi region of August 12, 2022.

Viktoria Kokhanovska, a lawyer and head of the All-Ukrainian Sisterhood of Mary Magdalene, responded to the drafting of the protocol. On her Facebook page, she recalled that Bishop Longin had adopted more than 500 special children.

“Please tell Bishop Longin, the father of more than half a thousand children, that <…> the Sisterhood <…> unanimously decided to support Bishop Longin in the lawsuit and in various instances,” the human rights activist said.

According to her, the organiser of the procession was not Metropolitan Longin, but "we are millions of parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church".

“Each of us will prove our rights to religion in court. You can’t scare us with fines, because faith in God is invaluable, and we are all temporary on this sinful earth,” Victoria Kokhanovska said.

As earlier reported, in the Chernivtsi Eparchy a religious procession of the “Boyany” Icon of the Mother of God took place.

As the UOJ wrote, the UOC Sisterhood called on the President to dismiss the head of the Khmelnytskyi RMA.

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