Local authorities in Kinakhovtsy want to finish off UOC community

On May 5 there was organized a round table in Vishnevets town, Zbarazh district, which brought forward an issue of preserving the community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church being subordinated to the local town council in Kinakhovtsy village. It is reported by the UOJ correspondent.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Ternopol UOC eparchy in the village, as well as members of the Kiev Patriarchate, regional state administration and local authorities. According to the reporter from the Union of Orthodox Journalists, the present were not able to reach a compromise during the discussion and it is evident the town council is determined to reregister the statute and the community of the UOC in favor of the UOC KP.

The Editorial Board has received an edition of “Power of the Word” newspaper dated April 2017, which published the information about the meeting of the executive committee of Vishnevets town-based united territorial community, at which an issue of the “transition” of the village residents to the Kiev Patriarchate was raised. The text says that by virtue of this “transition” it was decided to support registration of the statute of the UOC KP unit in Kinakhovtsy.

At the moment the village is dominated by the active and numerous community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, joined by the residents of the adjacent villages of Mishkovtsy and Butin, whose temples have been taken over before by the Kiev Patriarchate.

According to the protopriest of St. Apostles Peter and Paul temple father Bitaliy Gurev, representatives of the local power literally delivered an ultimatum to the present functionaries from Ternopol Regional State Administration, demanding to fulfill wishes of the KP adherents. By the priest’s accounts, the Administration is likely not to hurry up with the UOC statute’s re-registration due to the criminal proceeding having been initiated upon the actions of the KP activists.

The UOC community of Kinakhovtsy village made an official address to the local, regional and law enforcement authorities with a demand to protect their rights. A temple raiding mechanism has been already launched here: the “meeting” of villagers was held and it was announced on behalf of the UOC congregation the parishioners are reportedly going to change their confession. Besides, there was made and published a video showing minors who had been used by the UOC KP proponents to speak for the “transition” to the Kiev Patriarchate.