Zagintsy. Police and OCU raiders seized a UOC church

Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos of the UOC

Address: Khmelnytskyi region, Zagontsi village, Beregova Street, 4.

A group of the OCU raiders, led by the deputy of the Khmelnytskyi District Council Alexander Chornievich, organized an attack on the Intercession Church of the UOC.

The criminals falsified the church documents and then set up a storm.

The raider group was assisted by the police, who formed a corridor for criminals.

On March 28, 2024, supporters of the OCU, with the participation of the deputy of the Khmelnytskyi District Council Oleksandr Chornievich, cut off the locks on both entrance doors of the temple and took possession of the premises.

All this took place with the inaction of police officers. This was reported by the press service of the Khmelnytskyi diocese.

Believers published a video from the scene describing that the deputy knocked the bag out of the woman's hands and, snatching her phone, threw it on the ground.

"At the same time, he said, looking into my eyes, that I was pushed, and the phone fell out of my hands by itself... The police did not react in any way. One of the policemen, looking at what was happening, said that he did not see anything, "the victim described the incident.

In the video, you can also hear the man forbids filming, the raiders cut off the locks, asking a provocative question: "Who are you filming for, for Russia?"

Earlier, the UN report documented similar cases when "groups of people forcibly broke into the churches of the UOC, justifying their actions by the decisions of local governments regarding the registration of new religious communities of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) at the same address at which the existing communities of the UOC are registered."

The diocese emphasizes that the seizure of the temple by the OCU representatives is illegal.

"The permanent parishioners of the Intercession religious community have not changed their subordination in organizational and canonical matters, but on the contrary, of their own free will, they remain in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with a governing center in Kyiv, in accordance with the decision of the general parish meeting of October 14, 2023," the statement said.

It is noted that the re-registration of the charter and the change of the head of the Pokrovsky parish took place in violation of the Constitutional norms and legislation of Ukraine. According to the diocese, the temple still belongs to the UOC on the basis of a certificate of ownership.

"The liturgical and parish life of the religious community of Holy Protection Parish will continue, and the rector and regular parishioners hope for the restoration of their constitutional rights to freedom of religion and the real operation of the rule of law in the future," the diocesan press service concludes.

(Source: UOJ)