Borodianka authorities complain to Epifaniy abouth his clergy's ingratitude
A conflict has arisen between OCU clergy involved in seizing churches from the UOC in Kyiv Region and the local authorities who assisted them.
“There is a serious situation that demands a public response. We’re talking about priests who, instead of serving God, are playing politics.” This was stated in an open letter to the head of the OCU, Epifaniy Dumenko, regarding the actions of OCU clergy Mykola Kryhyn of Bucha and Dmytro Koshka of Borodianka. The letter was published on the Facebook page Borodianka Online.
The authors complain that both OCU activists have launched an information war against local authorities, despite the fact that it was thanks to “the principled position of the Bucha territorial community leadership that the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God was transferred to the OCU.”
“Instead of gratitude, we now see a priest aligning himself with disreputable individuals who incite him to discredit those who have done more for churches than anyone else,” the letter reads.
A similar situation is reported in Borodianka, where “Father Dmytro Koshka, a deputy from European Solidarity, is also engaged in political scheming and pursuing personal financial interests.”
This same clergyman, with the help of local authorities, had previously seized several UOC churches: the Church of St. Paraskeva in Druzhnya village, the Church of St. Demetrius in Makariv, the Church of St. Demetrius in Pylypovychi, and St. Michael’s Church in Borodianka.
According to the letter’s authors, the actions of these OCU clergy are coordinated by former Irpin mayor Volodymyr Karpliuk, “who has usurping ambitions regarding the Bucha district.”
“The priesthood is a ministry to people and to God – not a platform for political games or personal ambition. When priests use the authority of the Church for political or financial leverage, they destroy community trust and undermine the OCU’s image as a Church of honesty and service,” the Borodyanka authorities conclude.
As the UOJ previously reported, after the “transfer” of Kyiv’s Cyril Church to the OCU, its “services” have been attended by only a handful of people.
