In Volyn, parishioners testified their loyalty to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in front of the icon of the Mother of God

In the village of Sedlishche in Volyn, in response to attempts by outsiders to change the confessional subordination of the community of the Church of St. George the Victorious, on May 25 a meeting of the religious community of this temple, which is in the canonical subordination of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, was held. This was reported by the press service of the Vladimir-Volyn diocese of the UOC.

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, on the day of the Ascension of the Lord, the rector of the temple and the chairman of the parish meeting, Archpriest Igor Tymoshchuk, in accordance with the Charter of the parish and the legislation of Ukraine, initiated and held a meeting of the religious community, the participants of which once again confirmed their belonging to the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by voting and signatures.

“In order to testify their loyalty to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with a pure heart in front of the entire church community, the parishioners did this in the church in front of the descending icon of the Mother of God,” the message says.

At the meeting, which was held under the protocol, they talked about the initiative of several villagers who are parishioners of the OCU temple in the neighboring village of Staraya Vyzhevka to hold a meeting of the residents of the village of Sedlishche in order to pass off this event as a meeting of the religious community of the local UOC temple and vote on the transition to the OCU. Such a meeting with a corresponding vote was held on May 21 near the local House of Culture, chaired by the dean and rector of the OCU church in nearby Staraya Vyzhevka, Ivan Zelenok.

The parishioners of the Church of the Great Martyr George the Victorious did not take part in the voting, since this meeting was not a meeting of the religious community of the temple and was held contrary to the Law of Ukraine “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations” and the Charter of the parish.

Before that, the initiators of the “transition” to the OCU went around the houses of the villagers with prepared forms for collecting signatures and a provocative question: “Are you for the “Russian world”, or for Ukraine? Sign». In order to involve more villagers in participating in the «transition» to the OCU, the initiators of the collection of signatures manipulated the authority of the local priest, Archpriest Igor Tymoshchuk, and deceitfully claimed that he was the initiator of such a «transition».

The legitimate assembly of the religious community of the Church of the Great Martyr George put everything in its place. During the meeting, a list of names of members of the religious community was compiled. The residents of the village and the parishioners of the church were reminded that only those meetings and votings that are held by the religious community itself on the basis of its own charter and compliance with the norms of state legislation can be considered valid.

However, despite such obvious things, the head of the Volyn diocese of the OCU «Metropolitan» Mikhail Zinkevich accepted the statement of the meeting of the inhabitants of the village of Sedlishche on the transition to the OCU as a decision of the religious community and «satisfied the request.»