Odessa priests report conflicts around temples to OSCE
Odessa eparchy clerics discussed with OSCE officials the expulsion of the priest from the temple at the Military Academy and forced transfers of communities to the OCU.
Protopriest Evgeny Gutyar and Sergiy Dmitriev, clerics of the Odessa eparchy, told representatives of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission about the conflicts around the churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the region.
One of the main events of the last days is the expulsion of Father Sergius and his community from the Holy Cyril and Methodius Church at the Military Academy, reports the official Facebook page of the Odessa eparchy.
The priest said how he restored the temple, destroyed in Soviet times, how the situation gradually heated up and the believers were not allowed to worship, and, finally, how the community was expelled without any explanation.
The clerics of the UOC are worried about the provocations of the authorities and all sorts of “activists” who seek the transfer of the communities of the canonical Church to the OCU, resorting to slander and disinformation, and even attempts at direct raiding occur.
According to the priests, the Odessa eparchy is law-abiding and is ready to defend its shrines.
As the UOJ reported, in the village of Yaroslavka, Odessa region, the authorities attempted to transfer the church to the OCU, but the believers unanimously voted for loyalty to the canonical Church.
