In Rivne they call for banning the use of loudspeakers in UOC churches

The city of Rivne has registered a petition demanding that religious communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) be banned from using external sound systems, speakers and loudspeakers during church services. According to the ChaRivne newspaper, the initiative is aimed at limiting the broadcasting of church services into the public space of the city «because of their negative impact on the moral state of residents».

The author of the appeal was local journalist Maxim Kolomys. He emphasizes that church services from the lower church of the Holy Resurrection Cathedral of the UOC are broadcast so loudly that city residents who are not parishioners «are forced to listen to services in a language other than Ukrainian». According to the author, «Russian-language singing» is often heard even during the nationwide minute of silence, which allegedly «causes justified aggression among veterans and families of the dead.»

An MP of the Verkhovna Rada from Rivne region, Solomiya Bobrovska, also expressed support for the initiative. She called what is happening around the Holy Resurrection Cathedral «an illustrative story about the attempt of the city residents to limit the audio accompaniment of services, which the UOC priests continue to conduct in Church Slavonic». Local journalist Inna Biletskaya also joined the discussion of the «problem», who earlier also expressed indignation at the loudness of broadcasts in the city center, noting the «destructive impact» of such activities in wartime conditions.

Earlier, Solomiya Bobrovska expressed outrage over a charity event in Rivne, organized by the Rivne diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The MP is outraged that the city authorities provided the church with a venue for organizing a Christmas charity concert despite the fact that Ukraine has already passed a law banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.