Petition in support of Tithes Monastery collects 20,000 signatures
The petition "On Securing the Right to Freedom of Religion for the Faithful of the UOC and Public Order around the Tithes Church (Chapel)" has collected more than 20,000 signatures.
In a petition that collected more than 20,000 signatures as of March 5, Kiev residents ask the mayor to ensure the existing property right, not to prevent believers from exercising their right to freedom of religion in Kiev and not to allow the incitement of religious hatred, writes the "Capital".
In this vein, the petition notes that the property rights to the Tithes Church are registered properly in the State Register of the rights to real estate to the religious community of the UOC the Tithes Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in the Shevchenkovsky District of Kiev.
The petition was sent to the Chairman of the Kiev City State Administration V. Klitchko on February 8. 12,000 signatures were collected under the petition in a period of three days. For consideration by the City Council, the petition must collect 10,000 within a period of 90 days.
The collection of signatures began on February 4 and is still underway. Signatures are being collected in Kiev churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The Tithes Monastery has been the focal point of threats and attacks from Ukrainian nationalist radicals lately. The church was vandalized and set on fire on January 25. On February 3, about 200 radicals staged a protest near the monastery, calling for its dismantling. More than 3,000 Orthodox Kievites came out to defend the monastery on the same day.
