Authorities cancelled the transfer of heritage churches to permanent use
The government replaced the permanent transfer of heritage churches to communities with temporary hourly access.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has prohibited the transfer of churches to religious organizations for permanent use. The new government resolution introduces new rules under which a religious organization will receive access to a place of worship only during certain hours for the performance of religious services.
The Ministry of Culture prepared a draft of amendments that completely deprives communities of the ability to fully manage church property. A system of time-distributed access according to a pre-agreed schedule is now being introduced.
State institutions will have sole control over church premises, while believers will retain only the right to hold religious services during hours strictly designated by officials.
As justification for the decision, officials point out that "religious organizations do not always have sufficient resources to maintain heritage sites, carry out necessary restoration work, and protect structures from damage, destruction, or demolition."
At the same time, the Ministry of Culture used extremely vague wording in the document, under which virtually any place of worship in the country could fall. The text states that the new rules will apply to sites that "require a special usage regime" or are "used jointly by communities and cultural institutions."
Officially, the Ministry of Culture explained the changes as concern for the preservation of heritage sites and a lack of resources among religious organizations. At the same time, the new rules are effectively beneficial only for the OCU, which has neither the financial capacity nor a sufficient number of believers to independently maintain churches.
As the UOJ reported, new cases of church destruction due to government inaction are being recorded in Ukraine.
