In Badovka UOC-KP uses the last resort to keep the seized church

In the village of Badovka of the Ostroh district, Rovno region, representatives of the Kiev Patriarchate again prevented believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from entering the church, belonging to the UOC, according to the current legislation, reports a UOJ correspondent.

On March 6, the executive service should bring into effect the decision of the Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine of December 20, 2016, which ordered the representatives of the Kiev Patriarchate to leave the church illegally seized in 2014.

On March 3, 2017, a human rights activist of the Rovno diocese of the UOC receives a call from the state executor, who said that the decision would not result in action because of a lawsuit filed by representatives of the Kiev Patriarchate in the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

"We already have a similar practice in the diocese of Rivne, when members of the Kiev Patriarchate submit another lawsuit not from legal entities, but from individuals. This time, the opponents turned to the manipulation of the patriotic consciousness of the population by using the case of the former ATO participant Valentin Sergeyevich Zakhozhy, a Badovka resident, who in February 2017 filed a lawsuit in the Rovno District Administrative Court and the Ostroh District Court, demanding that they revoke the decision on the right of ownership to the church.

Also, it became known from the court's decision that he requires to seize the church building. The cases on his claims have not yet been scheduled for consideration yet, as V. S. Zakhozhy did not pay the court fee," commented Catherine Ivaniuk, the human rights activist of the Rovno diocese of the UOC.

In connection with this claim, the state executor suspended the execution of the court's decision of December 20, 2016 until March 17, 2017.

"We do not want to aggravate the situation, we simply seek justice," says Archpriest Viktor Zemlianoy, head of the department for the settlement of interfaith disputes at the Rovno diocese of the UOC – the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene Church was built by the believers of the UOC. Our key benefactor was Viktor Gubitsky, who now serves as a cleric of the Kiev diocese of the UOC. I think this fact should not be appealed against by any villager – everything happened transparently."

Now while the legitimate owners of the church – the believers of the UOC – are forced to pray in the country house, eagerly provided for worship by a local resident, the Kiev Patriarchate continues to use the church for their own purposes.

As reported by the UOJ, on December 20, the Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine ordered the Kiev Patriarchate to vacate the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene Church of the UOC in the village of Badovka of the Ostroh district, Rivne region, grabbed by the Kiev Patriarchate two years ago.