Cherkasy mayor: FSB-MP occupies two remaining churches only temporarily
According to Mayor Bondarenko, the authorities have “not finished the job” by failing to drive the faithful out of the last two churches.
Anatolii Bondarenko, the mayor of Cherkasy who personally oversaw the seizure of several churches belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), stated that the remaining two UOC parishes in the city are only “temporarily” present in their churches.
“This is the fault of both the authorities and the communities. I think the Cherkasy community should soon correct its mistakes. After all, the decision was made long ago. One could say that representatives of the FSB–Moscow Patriarchate are only temporarily staying in those buildings,” Bondarenko declared.
He added that “everyone already understands that Ukraine must have a single, local, national Church.”
At present, out of ten UOC churches in Cherkasy, eight have already been seized.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that Metropolitan Theodosiy warned Bondarenko that he would have to answer for his acts of banditry against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
