Vinnitsa, Ukraine, March 22, 2022
Photo: spzh.news
The violent seizure of churches that has been going on in Ukraine for many years, which ramped up after the Patriarchate of Constantinople created the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” in 2018, has again ramped up since Russian troops landed in Ukraine in February.
Earlier this month, OrthoChristian reported that 6 churches and a monastery had been seized in the western Ivano-Frankivsk Province in just a week.
And today, the Union of Orthodox Journalists reports, with reference to local parishioners, that another 6 have been seized just in the Vinnitsa Diocese.
The Vinnitsa Diocese has been one of the most embattled in Ukraine since the creation of the OCU, as its former hierarch, Simeon Shostatsky, was one of only two Orthodox bishops to leave the Church and join the schismatics.
On March 6, OCU activists broke into a church in a Vinnitsa village, dragged the priest out by force, and seized the church. They also entered into the altar and desecrated the holy altar table.
On March 12, OCU nationalists disrupted the service in another village church and attempted to expel the priest and parishioners by force. Police sealed the church, though they opened it a few days later for the schismatics to use.
Photo: spzh.news
On March 13, in the village of Sosenka, schismatics forced the parish council president to open the church, allegedly to check for weapons. Then the village representative took the keys and handed them over to the OCU. On the same day, activists in the village of Penkovka cut the locks of the local church and seized the church. They also desecrated the altar table and prevented the priest from taking the Holy Gifts. They also threw the liturgical utensils and books belonging to the Orthodox community out the window.
On March 19, representatives of the territorial defense blocked the way to the church in the village of Mizyakovskie Khutora and threatened the priest. The next day, the same people seized the church in a neighboring village.
Also on March 19, locals in the village of Bolshie Krushlintsy tried to take the church keys from the church, threatened to disrupt the service, and forced him to transfer to the OCU. The Union of Orthodox Journalists has learned that similar provocations are also being prepared in several other villages.
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