Khmelnytsky Eparchy: OCU violates peace declaration with UOC in the region

After the signing of a joint appeal by the administrators of the dioceses of the UOC in the Khmelnytsky region and the head of the local branch of the OCU on reconciliation and dialogue, the Dumenkovites continue to seize churches. This is discussed in the statement of the press service of the Khmelnytsky diocese of the UOC.

The press service reminds that in the appeal, which was signed on August 3, 2023 at the initiative of the leadership of the Khmelnytsky Regional Military Administration, representatives of confessions "called on their faithful to mutual understanding, cessation of hostility, reconciliation, and dialogue." The document noted that “the dialogue should take place against the background of the cessation of clashes on the ground by representatives of different beliefs” and that the parties should not “resort to the contempt and hostility rhetoric, which today only plays into the hands of the enemy, as it divides society within the country.”

“Instead, to our great regret, we are forced to state that even after the signing of this appeal, the initiators of conflict situations and the seizure of churches of the UOC in favor of the OCU continue to grossly violate the rights of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the current legislation of Ukraine,” the statement says.

In particular, on August 19 and 20, 2023, supporters of the OCU seized the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Mytyntsi and the Church of St. John the Theologian in the village of Volytsia, Khmelnytsky District. This occurred despite the decision of the church communities to remain under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

“Under the calls of the priest of the OCU, ‘lets’ cleanse it all,’ the rector and parishioners in Mytyntsi were forcibly expelled from the church during the reading of the akathist to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In turn, in Volytsia, the raiders cut down the locks on the side doors with a grinder, after which both men and women entered the temple through its altar part, which is a gross violation of the church canonical order. At the same time, the entry about the religious community of the UOC remains relevant in the register of legal entities, that is, there was not even an illegal re-registration of the parish of the UOC in favor of the OCU, as is often the case in such situations,” says the press service.

The diocese emphasizes that supporters of the OCU in the Khmelnytsky region continue to use the “language of hatred and violence” against the believers of the UOC, which was recorded this year by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission.

"Considering the ongoing raiding actions aimed at capturing UOC temples by supporters of the OCU, the Khmelnytsky Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, represented by its diocesan hierarch, reserves the right to withdraw the signature from the appeal of the leaders of Orthodox religious organizations in the Khmelnytsky region <...> in the event that the endorsed calls for mutual understanding and reconciliation in the appeal continue to remain only on paper," the statement notes.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the community of the Intercession Church of the UOC in the village of Adamivka, Khmelnytsky region, sent an appeal to the President to protect it from the illegal actions of the regional military administration, which re-registered the parish in favor of the OCU.