The last functioning church of the Ivano-Frankivsk diocese of the UOC was "transferred" to the OCU

The Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration (regional military administration) illegally “transferred” the religious community of the Cathedral in honor of the Nativity of Christ to the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Ivano-Frankivsk, the last temple of the Ivano-Frankivsk diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church operating in the region, writes Pravlife .

On June 19, 2022, the community of the Nativity Cathedral of the UOC filed an application with law enforcement agencies for committing a criminal offense in connection with the unlawful registration of a new version of the charter of the community. The statement notes that a group of unknown persons forged an official document — the minutes of the parish meeting of the community.

“In response to a request for public information sent by the Ivano-Frankivsk diocese of the UOC, the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration (OVA) provided a copy of a certified order to register a new version of the charter of the religious organization «Religious Community of the UOC (OCU) of the Nativity of Christ in Ivano-Frankivsk» , the message says.

The community of the cathedral asks law enforcement agencies to open criminal proceedings, enter the relevant information into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations and start a pre-trial investigation into the facts on the grounds of crimes under Part 1, Part 4 of Art. 358, art.364, art.366, art. 161, 180 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Also, with the appropriate reservation, the Ivano-Frankivsk diocese of the UOC appealed to the chairman of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration (OVA) Svetlana Onishchuk.

On June 25, 2022, the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk Ruslan Martsinkiv on his Facebook page addressed the residents of the city with the publication of the specified order of the Regional State Administration (OVA) and the news about the “transition” of the community of the Nativity Cathedral to the “OCU”.

“Mr. Ruslan also promised that he would later announce the time of the first service of the OCU in the cathedral, in the subtext — the time of the raider seizure of the temple. That is, the head of the city does not even hide the fact that the so-called «transition of the community» takes place according to its organization,» the report says.

In this regard, the Ivano-Frankivsk diocese of the UOC calls on the mayor of the city «not to resort to inciting interfaith hatred in the Carpathian region, not to violate the Constitution of Ukraine, the laws of the state and international legal acts», and also «not to make efforts to organize a raider seizure of the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ — the last spiritual refuge of the believers of the UOC in the region, including internally displaced persons, and honestly and conscientiously fulfill their duties to the state and the community of the city.