In Kalnovtsy OCU activists take away church from UOC parishioners

Religious community of the UOC church in the village of Kalnovtsy. Photo: Facebook

On August 18, 2019, parishioners of the UOC in the village of Kalnovtsy of the Chernivtsi region served the first liturgy in a rural house after OCU activists had grabbed their church, as reported on the Facebook page of the Chernovtsy-Bukovina Eparchy of the canonical Church.

“Again and again we are convinced that the“love” of the OCU has no limits. The supporters of the OCU expelled the religious community of the UOC in the village of Kalnovtsy, where they used to pray to God for years,” the eparchy commented on the situation. “Probably, "Primate" Epiphany and his associates teach the OCU proponents such “love” and “Christian deeds”. But there is no Christian love where there is no grace, and the OCU proves this to us again and again. God grant that people understand this."

Archimandrite Nikita (Storozhuk), the secretary of the Chernovtsy-Bukovina Eparchy, consecrated the premises of a house for worship, after which the first liturgy was held there.

We recall that in April 2019, the head of the Chernovtsy RSA ordered to re-register the statutes of 3 religious communities of the UOC (in the villages of Berezhnitsa, Kalnovtsy and Staraya Zhadova) to the OCU. “The Chernovtsy RSA finally found the strength and published hidden from the public eye order No. 354-p published a week ago. Everything is “fine” in it: ignored are the appeals of the religious community to the RSA, open criminal cases on the fact of the abduction of documents from the religious community, meetings of religious communities, as well as appeals to the Prosecutor's Office...,” noted in the eparchy after the RSA published an illegal order.

Later, the National Police of Ukraine opened a criminal case against the acting Governor of the Chernovtsy region and other officials of the Chernovtsy Regional State Administration for falsification in favour of the OCU.

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