Nova Moschanitsa, Ukraine, July 24, 2020
Photo: spzh.news
The canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church has won another legal battle against the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” with the Rivne court of appeal saving a priest by eviction at the hands of violent schismatics.
On July 21, the court considered the claim of the OCU community in the village of Novo Moschanitsa in the Rivne Province about the rectory where a priest of the canonical UOC has been living with his family for more than 20 years. The court resolved to leave the house in the ownership of the canonical community of the UOC, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists.
“When the supporters of the OCU seized our church last year [in March—O.C.], our community started praying in the rectory where I live with my family,” says Archpriest Igor Gnatishin, the rector of the Church of the Nativity in the village.
“Since then, the activists haven’t stopped trying to expel me from the house in various ways. Intimidation and threats didn’t work, so they went to the courts,” Fr. Igor explained.
Last June, several activists came to Fr. Igor’s house, trying to violently evict him and his family. They beat up two men who defended the priest. One of them required medical assistance.
The OCU schismatics first attempted to seize the property via the courts in January, claiming the community had converted from the UOC to the OCU, and thus the house should belong to the OCU. The court dismissed the claim, and the OCU activists filed an appeal.
The OCU presented false information in its claim, stating that their priest does not have a house of his own, though the village council reported the opposite—that he has a home, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists.
After the seizure of the church building by the schismatic activists, the rectory is the only place where the Orthodox faithful of the village have to worship.
