Vinnitsa, Ukraine, January 18, 2022
Igor Saletsky, the "Black Registrar." Photo: spzh.news
Authorities in the Ukrainian Province of Vinnitsa who arbitrarily transferred several churches from the Orthodox Church to the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” now find themselves under a criminal investigation.
The Prosecutor’s Office of the Vinnitsa Province opened criminal proceedings on January 6, specifically concerning the illegal reregistration of the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in the village of Snitkov, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists with reference to Laity, an organization of Orthodox Christians dedicated to defending the Church.
Igor Saletsky, known as the “black registrar,” the head of the Vinnitsa Administration for Religious Affairs, is responsible for the illegal transfer of more than 30 communities, many of which occurred while Poroshenko was still in office.
The Prosecutor’s Office notes that Saletsky reregistered the church in Snitkov despite a court-ordered injunction against it. A Kiev court decision from mid-December also specifically notes that Saletsky transferred the Nativity of the Theotokos Church illegally, and also stopped the Vinnitsa administration’s decrees concerning several other Orthodox parish communities.
The Snitkov faithful have also held prayer rallies to defend their church from violent physical seizure by the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s schismatics.
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