Ovruch, Zhytomyr Province, Ukraine, September 7, 2023
spzh.news
Even as the Ukrainian Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights has launched an investigation into the numerous human rights violations at the Kiev Caves Lavra, Ukrainian authorities continue to persecute monastics and clergy of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
On Tuesday, the State Security Service and the National Police handed indictments against His Eminence Metropolitan Vissarion of Ovruch and two of his diocesan priests to the court system. Like a number of other bishops, he is accused of “inciting national and religious enmity,” reports the Zhytomyr branch of the State Security Service.
The Service accuses the hierarch of personally preparing leaflets and pamphlets that “insult the religious sensibilities of Ukrainians … impose the ideas of the ‘Russian world,’ promote war, and instill Kremlin views of Ukrainian history.” It is well known that such texts have been planted by the authorities at various Church properties and claimed as evidence against hierarchs and monasteries.
“Destructive materials were replicated by tens of thousands of copies, which the secretary of the diocese and the rector of a local church massively distributed among priests and believers of the religious community of the border region of Zhytomyr,” the law enforcement body claims.
If found guilty, the clerics face a fine of 500-1,000 times the minimum wage or 2-5 years in prison.
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