In Budiatychi, OCU raiders attempting to seize UOC temple

On February 13, 2020, an organized group of OCU raiders gathered near the St. Nicholas Church of the UOC in the village of Budiatychi of the Ivanychy district, Volyn region, demanding that the doors should be opened and representatives of the new religious structure should be allowed into the church, report eyewitnesses of the events present in the place.

As the rector of the UOC community Archpriest John Sabivchak explained, the final meeting of the community, at which residents and parishioners had to express their decision on the affiliation of the church, was scheduled for February 15.

However, the raiders decided not to wait for the weekend, and on February 13 they gathered a “support group” to come to the temple, putting forward their conditions: not to accept any proposals and open the temple now.

The attack on the temple was deliberately postponed to the working day when a significant part of the parishioners of the UOC is at work. However, the part of the community that once built the entire church complex on its own is on the spot, ready to defend its property.

We recall that the UOC parish in Budiatychi was re-registered to the OCU on April 16, 2019, on the basis of a falsified “parish protocol”. Now the re-registration is challenged in court, the community, which owns the church, still keeps the building from being seized.