Vinnitsa, Ukraine, December 3, 2021
Photo: spzh.news
The Orthodox faithful in Vinnitsa are holding a prayer rally today in defense of their rights, against the illegal re-registration of their churches to the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”
Having learned of plans to forcefully and illegally re-register another three parishes in the Vinnitsa Province, many clergy and faithful decided to prayerfully gather outside the Vinnitsa Provincial State Administration building today, reports the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in the village of Snitkov.
Igor Saletsky, the head of the Vinnitsa Administration for Religious Affairs, known as the “black registrar,” has wreaked much havoc for the Orthodox Church, especially under President Poroshenko, the church’s page reports. He is responsible for the illegal transfer of more than 30 communities and the resulting conflicts.
Vinnitsa is one of the most embattled regions in Ukraine. The former ruling hierarch of the Vinnitsa Diocese of the Ukrainian Church, Simeon Shostatsky, was one of only two Orthodox bishops to join the schismatic OCU in 2018, taking a handful of clergy and churches with him. He and those loyal to him have continued to pressure other Orthodox faithful to join the graceless OCU.
Unfortunately, bus companies are refusing to transport the faithful to the rally under pressure from the police.
Addressing the faithful at the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Murovanie Kurilovtsi before leaving for the rally, Archpriest Vasily Balan said: “We’re alive, but we’re being buried. And we’re going to … protect our constitutional rights. Unfortunately, the comapnies refused to transport us after the police called. I appeal to everyone who is now in Vinnitsa, near Vinnitsa: Come, support those who want to but cannot come because of this. Come to support the persecuted parishes.”
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!
