“Brutal medievalism”: MP criticizes church raids by OCU in Bukovyna
Mazurashu emphasized that decisions on parish transitions must be made by actual parishioners – not “parachuted-in” outsiders or raiders.
Ukrainian Member of Parliament Heorhiy Mazurashu has criticized the OCU’s actions in seizing UOC churches in Bukovyna, describing them as “brutal medievalism” in a post on his Facebook page. He also shared a publication by the group “Faithful of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Eparchy of the UOC” about the seizure of the UOC's Dormition Church in Dubivtsi, allegedly with the involvement of the Right Sector.
Mazurashu stated that he has no objection to the decisions of “some Orthodox communities” to transition to the OCU. However, he stressed that such decisions must be made solely by actual parishioners, not by “parachuted-in individuals from neighboring villages, communities, or regions, nor by local residents who attend church only on Easter – or not at all.”
According to the MP, only “those who regularly attend that particular church, to all or nearly all services, and are genuine parishioners with the moral right to decide such matters” should have voting rights in parish meetings.
“When you see footage of certain tough-looking guys, behaving and dressing like classic ‘busi-fication’ enforcers, essentially engaging in church raids, you have to ask – have we returned to the dark ages of medievalism or slavery, or are we still a democratic country aiming to join a democratic European Union?” the MP wrote.
He urged people to consider how such “lawless” seizures of churches affect the emotions and attitudes of real parishioners toward their homeland.
“These are also citizens of Ukraine. And it’s far from clear that they are any less patriotic than those who believe it’s acceptable to seize churches. Such barbaric actions only serve to benefit our enemies – those who would love to see us torn apart over ‘the wrong language,’ ‘the wrong church,’ or ‘the wrong political party,’” Mazurashu concluded.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that members of the Right Sector boasted of their armed support in the seizure of the UOC church in Dubivtsi.
