UOC community, facing raider seizure, seeks protection from the President

The community of the Intercession Parish of the UOC in the village of Adamivka, Khmelnytsky Region, has sent an appeal to President Volodymyr Zelensky calling for protection against the unlawful actions of the local authorities. This was reported by the press service of the Khmelnytskyi Diocese of the UOC.

Believers note that officials of the Khmelnytsky Regional Military Administration unlawfully re-registered their community to the OCU based on a "decision" of a fake "parish assembly" organized by followers of Epifaniy Dumenko.

Parishioners of the Holy Protection Church emphasize that they are addressing Volodymyr Zelensky as the guarantor of the Constitution, "the norms of which do not apply in Khmelnytsky and are blatantly ignored – particularly by officials of the Khmelnytsky Regional Military Administration."

"It is by their will that our religious community, consisting of 359 members, has effectively been deprived of the constitutional right to freedom of conscience and religion by unlawful means. On July 19, 2023, the charter of the religious community was registered in a new edition with changes providing for its subordination to the OCU," the appeal states.

It is noted that the new version of the charter was submitted for registration by individuals "who had no connection to the Holy Protection Church community" and that the law "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations" grants this right exclusively to members of the church community, not just residents of the village or representatives of political parties.

"Who, if not the officials subservient to you, would know better about this, esteemed Mr. President? However, instead of ensuring legality and constitutionality in solving an artificially created problem in the village, during a meeting with us in the office of one of the deputy chairs of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Military Administration, we were called 'servants of Moscow,' and our pastor was referred to as a 'Moscow priest,' only regaining composure after a reminder about the constitutional guarantee of the presumption of innocence," the believers report.

According to them, they have turned to the head of state, "hoping to seek justice."

"The sole purpose of this bacchanalia of inciting hatred and religious intolerance towards us, the true believers of the Holy Protection Church of the UOC in Adamivka, is to seize the church building. We ask you to stop the arbitrariness of local officials aimed at dividing society from within and to provide us with the opportunity for free religious practice. We want the true prayer to God to continue in our church, genuine prayer for our state, sincere prayer for our heroes – the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine defending its freedom from Russian aggression. We want to do this sincerely, as before, gathering in the church where God's grace has been present for 250 years. Is it really in our own state, where we were born and live, where our ancestors lived and are buried, that someone has the right to deprive us of the sacred – faith in God – due to someone's mercenary interests?" the Orthodox Christians of Adamovka wrote.

They also noted that they reserve the right to appeal to international institutions "if they are not heard in their own country."

Earlier, the UOJ reported that on July 2, 2023, the rector and parishioners of the Intercession Church of the UOC in the village of Adamivka were expelled from the village community center, where supporters of the OCU were voting on the "transfer" of the parish to Epifaniy Dumenko's organization.