Ukraine, September 23, 2022
Schismatics attempt to seize a village church. Photo: zhytomyr-eparchy.org
The canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church has faced attacks on its communities, churches, and monasteries for years now, and this battle has only increased since the beginning of the war in late February.
Local authorities continue to ban the Church in their area and to call for a nationwide a ban, and to illegally reregister parishes to the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” on the basis of “parish votes” by imposters who usually have nothing to do with the given parishes.
And, the violent physical seizure of churches has also continued unabated.
Most recently, the Rivne Diocese of the canonical Church published a video showing aggressive schismatics attempting to seize the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in the village of Khorov on Sunday.
At about 2:00 in the afternoon, representatives from the local schismatic community arrived at the church with angle grinders and began to cut the bars on the windows. The parishioners called the police who were able to prevent the seizure.
The attackers behaved aggressively, pushing women and the priest. They had previously attempted to seize the church in July, despite the fact that the canonical parish community has defended its rights in court.
And yesterday, an attempt was made to seize the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Popilnya, reports the Zhytomyr Diocese.
From the early morning, armed men presenting themselves as territorial defense prevented the faithful from entering their own church, while permitting members of the schismatic OCU inside, with whom they attempted to seize the church.
The uniformed men cut off the metal doors and knocked out the wooden doors with a hammer. The police who were on the scene did nothing to prevent or stop the attack.
Despite their best efforts, the schismatics were unable to enter the church, the diocese reports, and the church was sealed until a court decision. This was the second attempt to seize the church.
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