Petition to transfer Odesa school building to Catholics gains 25,000 signatures
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is now required to consider returning the former school and seminary building in Odesa to the Catholic Church.
A petition demanding that the historic building at 23 Nina Strokata Street be transferred into the ownership or free use of the Roman Catholic Church has gathered the 25,000 signatures required for government consideration. The collection of signatures for the petition, authored by Viktor Lushchak, began on March 31, 2026, Suspilne Odesa reports.
In the text of the appeal, the author states that the building was constructed in 1849 with funds from the Catholic Church and, until its nationalization by the Soviet authorities in 1917, formed part of the complex of buildings known as Odesa’s “Latin Quarter.”
“If returning the building into ownership is currently impossible, the author asks that free and indefinite use of the premises be ensured, or at least of the part currently used by the diocese,” the petition reads.
Today, the building belongs to the state and has the status of an architectural monument. The Catholic community leases 304.5 square meters of space there. Representatives of the diocese say that of the 13 buildings in the historic “Latin Quarter” complex, only the cathedral has been returned to them during the years of Ukraine’s independence.
According to them, they have been trying to resolve the issue of the premises on Nina Strokata Street for more than 20 years. In 2023, they said, there was a risk of losing rights even to the part of the building where classes for children are held and humanitarian work is carried out.
As the UOJ reported, St. Nicholas Church in Kyiv was finally transferred to the Catholic parish.
