Bogorodchany, Ukraine, October 1, 2018
Photo: news.church.ua Ukrainian nationalist-radicals of the infamous Right Sector group vandalized a parish of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church on Saturday and attacked the local priest and Orthodox faithful. One man received a concussion, and another a broken arm, reports the site of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Members of Right Sector, C-14, and other groups have been attacking the canonical Ukrainian Church for years, often using violence against clergy and faithful. President Petro Poroshenko has repeatedly promised to preserve peace and prevent any violence against the members of the Church, who are hated by nationalists for remaining loyal to the canonical jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church, but the government’s protection has yet to be seen.
The attack took place at about 1:00 PM on Saturday in the village of Bogorodchany in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, where the radicals captured the building of the metropolitan chambers at the Holy Trinity Church, provided for the use of the community of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The thugs broke the doors, broke windows, and beat the faithful who were there.
The radicals were noticed by some parishioners when they arrived at the church, and information had been received about Right Sector gathering people at the church to break-in and seize it. Therefore, the local parishioners hurried to the church to try to prevent the seizure and protect their holy church.
According to the eyewitnesses, the radicals were able to break into the building through a musical school adjacent to the building. Once inside, they started fighting with the parishioners inside, leaving several people with serious injuries—one man suffered a broken arm, another a concussion, and Archpriest Vladimir Shuvar also suffered at the hands of the raiders.
Fr. Vladimir and all the parishioners were kicked out of the building, and the thugs were able to change the locks on the building.
As the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s plans to unilaterally and uncanonically create a new church in Ukraine continue, the faithful of the true Ukrainian Church are preparing themselves for coming waves of violence and persecution. His Eminence Metropolitan Paul of Vyshogorod and Chernobyl, the abbot of the Kiev Caves Lavra, has warned about a planned attack against the monastery on October 14, and now His Eminence Metropolitan Vladimir of Pochaev, the abbot of the Pochaev Lavra, has raised concerns about the same at his monastery.
His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, and many other hierarchs, have been labeled as enemies of Ukraine by a site curated by the Ukrainian government and have received death threats.
The Ukrainian government has begun taking an official inventory of all properties of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which many see as a preparation for more such church seizures.
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