In Ptichya raiders from OCU seize UOC church

In the village of Ptichya of the Dubno district, Rovno region, raiders from the OCU cut locks on the doors of the Holy Dormition Church of the UOC. The seizure occurred at about 20.00 on April 4, reports a UOJ correspondent.

Reportedly, the locks on the church doors were cut with a grinder, the police called by the OCU activists in advance did not interfere with these actions.

“As soon as I found out about the incident, I called the investigator,” commented Archpriest Gregory Stadnik, rector of the Holy Dormition Church in the village of Ptichya. - I asked why the police did not intervene as the church is under arrest. The investigator replied that today, they say, the arrest had been lifted. I further went on to say that this was not legal because we were not even informed about this. On the other end, they irritably shouted “legally” and hang up on me.”

On April 1, these events were preceded by the so-called meeting on the transfer to the OCU, which the activists held on the territory of the church in the village of Ptichya. Members of the UOC community, on whose behalf the “transfer” was made, were not invited to the meeting.

“It was a real farce, they quickly voted formally, though they had already registered on the same day,” says Father Gregory. “Ms. Gomeniuk, the artistic director of the local ensemble, was appointed the head of their newly-established community.”

The village of Ptichya was included in the list of settlements of the Rovno region, where the OCU community was registered as the only legitimate religious community, while the UOC community was deleted from the Single State Registry as non-existent.

We recall that the European Court of Human Rights opened proceedings on the application of the UOC community of the village of Ptichya of the Dubno district, Rovno region, about violation of their rights due to repeated seizures of the church with the support of the authorities. On March 14, 2019, the European Court sent to the religious community of the UOC of the village of Ptichya an official notice of the admissibility of the applicant's complaint and the opening of the proceedings.