Seizures of temples. How it was: Sudobichi

In the first material of the series, we will tell you about the seizure of the church of the religious community of the Holy Cosmas-Damian parish of the Rovno eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in vlg. Sudobichi, Dubno district.

The situation that has developed in recent years in vlg. Sudobichi of the Dubno district, Rovno region, comes to the point of absurdity. However, believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, who at least once faced supporters of the Kiev Patriarchate, all say: that's actually not surprising. After all, for those who claim to pray in Filaret's "Church", the laws of God do not apply to, the Bible's commandments are null, while aggression, malice, hatred and lies rule. And the proof of all these accusations is the interfaith dispute in vlg. Sudobichi, where the religious community of the UOC is ignored at any state level and pursued by the villagers and police.

The church confrontation in Sudobichi began on September 11, 2014 – it was on this day that the newly created community of the Kiev Patriarchate took away the church of the UOC faithful. We would like to pay special attention to the preconditions for church raiding. On that day, the young rector, priest Alexander Kardash celebrated his birthday. In the morning, he was congratulated by a lot of people, among whom there were those who later in the afternoon came to the church together with a new rector of the Kiev Patriarchate. Right after the service, Father Alexander went home, because he lives 45 km from the village. No one informed him of an emergency meeting called in the village, although the village head Galina Kursik, who turned out to be the main initiator of the pseudo-referendum, talked to the priest before his departure.

The villagers recall that while the priest was returning from home to the village, the church in Sudobichi was seized. Everything happened quietly, no fights and clashes – the village head opened the door with her key and let the raiders in.

Having won, supporters of the Kiev Patriarchate launched an aggressive attack on the villagers who refused to go to the seized church, but supported Priest Alexander Kardash and came to the first prayer service to a house offered by one of the local parishioners. It may sound too pathetic, but the old icon of the Mother of God, to which the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church prayed that day, began to renew and brightens before our eyes.

Eventually, those who initially feared gossip and intimidation began to come to services in the house. Moreover, until September 11, 2014, the temple in the village of Sudobichi was the only church of the UOC in five surrounding villages, so people from neighbouring settlements also attended the service of God. When the raiding took place, the house of one of the parishioners was temporarily adapted for worship services. After gathering a large community, Father Alexander organized a Sunday school for children, travel, excursions with them. The painstaking work required the constant presence of the priest in the parish, but there was a problem with housing. Then one of the local residents, Alexander Marchuk, offered his land for the construction of a house for the priest. The UOC religious community of Sudobichi supported the idea, bought the land and made the necessary documents. After completing all the formalities for the privatization of the land, Father Alexander turned to the district power engineers to put in the light and begin construction, but as it appeared, they could not do this, because the land had to be given an address. Actually, it served the beginning of the next round of interfaith confrontation in Sudobichi.

The Ploskoye village council, to which the village of Sudobichi belongs, led by its chairman Oleg Kuchubey, denied Protopriest Alexander Kardash the assignment of the postal address to his land and initiated another village meeting, to which the first leaders of the Dubno district were even invited. This time, believers of the UOC could not ignore the village meeting and came to the club when there was already a large society.

"We were greeted with the words "Glory to Ukraine!", to which we answered: "Heroes Be Glorified!" When from the lips of the priest "Glory to God!" was sounded, all choked up about that. So, it turns out: for people who took away the church from us for worship, the state slogans are in the first place??? But what about God, who they are going to pray to?" wondered Anna Petruchok, a parishioner of the UOC.

"What about God, who they are going to pray to?"

At the village meeting, the issue of assigning the postal address was heard the longest. During the discussion, many people shouted and called the UOC faithful names. When it was time to announce the decision, it was just as ridiculous as the meeting itself and the occasion to convene it. According to Sudobichi residents, it was decided to forcefully drive out the priest, to take away the land, and to punish the one who had given the plot of land. All the action was silently watched by officials – heads of the Dubno District Administration and the Dubno District Council.

The UOC believers of Sudobichi decided to seek justice in court and filed a lawsuit. On October 13, 2016, hearings on the case took place, but no decisions were taken before the second hearing.

The inter-church conflict in Sudobichi, going on for two years, is only escalating. Recently, a police officer has come to several parishioners of the UOC and under pressure tried to extract confessions that priest Alexander Kardash disseminates separatist literature. Those, of course, refused. Regarding this issue, the police also called for the father himself, but an offence, which the supporters of the Kiev Patriarchate reported the law enforcement agencies in writing, was not revealed. However, a few days later in the local newspaper, the same activists posted an article with fictions and peculiar speculations about the "separatist activity" of the priest.

The UOC believers of Sudobichi planned to start building a new church last year, but the local village council blocked the construction, refusing the assignment of the postal address.

"The executive committee of the village council did not give consent to the assignment of the postal address twice," said Protopriest Alexander Kardash. "We still do not have a number, only Kremenetskaya Street is indicated. Actually, this is the main obstacle to the construction of the church."

Despite the obstacles from local activists of the Kiev Patriarchate, the believers of the UOC persistently go to their goal: they have put up a fence around the land where the church should appear and made a well for water. The Sudobichi residents say that as soon as they get justice, construction will begin immediately.

In the meantime, parishioners of the canonical Church perform worship services in a small country house donated by the indifferent local resident.