Priest of the UOC: Stop religious hatred and lawlessness in the city of Netishin

On April 10, 2023, Archpriest Roman Tishkun, rector of the Paraskevsky Church in the town of Netishin, Shepetovsky district, Khmelnitsky region, called on the local authorities to stop inciting religious hatred. In his appeal, the priest stated that he considers the decisions made by local self-government bodies to break the land lease agreements with the UOC as illegal and unlawful.

The rector of the temple recalled that, according to the head of the State Ethnopolitics and Religion Yelensky, the decision of the local authorities to ban the UOC is illegal.

“I am surprised by the mayor’s position on other problems in the city, because it seems that we have no other problems, but only problems on a religious issue,” Father Roman is surprised and suggests that this is done “to divert attention from real problems.”

In his address, the priest recalled that “during the time of the coronavirus, the mayor of the city called the believers of the UOC a ‘biological weapon’, which made him ‘famous’ throughout Ukraine.”

Father Roman added that he rejoices at the choice of the conscious residents of Netishin not to support the actions of the authorities to interfere in the life of religious communities.

“I urge you not to exceed your powers and not to make illegal decisions! There are enough problems in the city that are waiting for your economic hand, and let the religious communities decide religious issues, as it is written in the law on freedom of conscience and religion,” the rector of the Paraskevsky Church emphasized.