OCU ‘hierarch’ says which churches in Volyn will be taken away from the UOC

Mykhailo Zinkevych. Photo: UOC-KP

The new law provides for the possibility of returning to state ownership religious buildings, which were in the use of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, said ‘metropolitan’ of the OCU Mykhailo Zinkevych in the programme ‘Konkurent TV’.

“Many temples and religious buildings are transferred for permanent use. This is the main form of transfer. According to the new law, this property goes back to the state. And the state will be able to transfer the structures to the organisation that proves it has no ties with the ROC,” he said.

Zinkevych also named several well-known Volyn objects that can be returned to state ownership, in particular: the Intercession Church in Lutsk, the Zymne Monastery and the Czartoryi Monastery. In addition, the “hierarch” of the OCU noted that there are other, less well-known temples and churches, but he emphasised those that people can definitely recognise and identify.

The “metropolitan” of the OCU emphasised that the authorities can now make demands for eviction from state-owned properties.

As reported by the UOJ, earlier the Volyn “metropolitan” said that it is necessary to take away temples from UOC believers and prohibit their Church to physically exist. But this wiil not be persecution of religion, in his opinion.

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