Greek-Catholics obtain the right by court decision to serve in the UOC temple in Transcarpathia

A supreme commercial court ruled “to eliminate all barriers” for a Greek-Catholic community on their way to serving in St. Elijah temple in Irliava village. The UOC religious community of St. Elijah temple, who have held divine services here since 1991, is determined to appeal this decision in other court instances.

“The Greek-Catholic community sprang up only in 2015, but they immediately began to claim or church, – comments on the goings-on senior priest of St. Elijah temple protopriest Andrey Tyska. – It seems to us it is unacceptable neither from the moral nor juridical standpoint. They should not grab our church but build their own.”

According to lawyer of the UOC Mukachevo diocese Dmitry Grinyo, who handles the case, there is every chance to defend the temple in question.

“The Greek-Catholics presented before the court a “decision of the village council”, according to which deputies had given the land plot, listed in the BTI (Bureau of Technical Inventory), to the Uniates. The decision is dated by 2013. The point is not about the deputies who are not in the very least aware of how to make such decisions. The point is that the Greek-Catholic community did not exist as a legal entity as at that moment! Therefore, we have a firm chance, based on the case, to open additionally a criminal proceeding on document forgery.”

The parishioners think Greek-Catholics need the temple solely as an income source. At the moment any confession representative can be buried on the cemetery where the church is located. Yet the newly-baked Greek-Catholic community has already informed “one should pay 2000 UAH for a burial place unless they are Greek-Catholic.”

The UOJ is watching the developments.