Bobly believers tell OSCE officials about religious conflict in the village
The UOC community of the Volyn village of Bobly presented to the OSCE officials evidence of violations of their rights to freedom of religion by OCU activists.
On September 24, 2019, representatives of the OSCE Mission met with believers of the Holy Protection Church (UOC) in the village of Bobly of the Turiisk district, Volyn region, the deputy of the Turiisk District Council Vladimir Krasulia reports on Facebook.
“Testimonies of victims and witnesses of crimes, written and video materials were provided. The OSCE officials recorded everything. The church community is waiting for a quick solution to the problem because they say: “It is getting cold to pray outdoors,” writes Vladimir Krasulia.
As reported, on August 11, 2019, OCU representatives, while singing “prayers” by their “priests”, illegally entered the Holy Protection Church in the village of Bobly of the Turiisk district, Volyn region, and had a fight right in the church. As a result of the provocation, the UOC believers wrote a statement to the police on the fact of illegal entry into the church building and deliberate bodily harm.
We recall that this is not the first provocation on the part of the representatives of the OCU in Bobly. This spring, the UOC community was illegally re-registered into the OCU. At the same time, as Archpriest Vladimir Matsuri, the press secretary of the Vladimir-Volynsky Eparchy of the UOC, said, only 25 people voted for the transfer to the OCU, while the majority of 956 villagers who are real parishioners of the Holy Protection Church decided to remain in the bosom of the canonical Church. On August 4, OCU activists attempted to take away the temple, but parishioners defended it.
