Metropolitan Kliment commented on the project of Kyiv Council on demolition of 74 churches

The head of the UOC Information Department, Metropolitan Kliment, has commented to the UOJ on the project of Kiev council deputy Vadym Vasilchuk to “check” 74 churches in Kiev.

The bishop called such initiatives inciting aggression towards the believers of the UOC and creating a legal establishment of religious segregation in society.

The bishop emphasized that those temples on the list of the deputy are historical Kiev shrines, which either almost never closed, or after the closure were transferred to the Church back in the days of the USSR.

“Some deputy, who apparently has only recently become a Kiev citizen and does not know the history of the capital, claims that these temples were built with violations of documentation and placed on the territory unapproved by officials. The very fact of such statements is a disgrace, speaking about the absurdity imposed on society as a norm of life”, – said the hierarch.

The bishop also asked a question: “If the state believes that an ancient temple cannot belong to the UOC, because its location is not agreed with bureaucrats, then how can this same temple in the same place belong to another denomination?”.

Referring to the example of the situation in Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, the Metropolitan said that “the Reserve is worried that the UOC “arbitrarily” and without the necessary documents has built buildings on the territory of the Lavra. And these same buildings are sealed in order to transfer them to other organizations. Naturally, the question arises. Why are the available documents insufficient for the UOC, while for other organizations it is possible to use church buildings without any documents at all? In such a disproportionate approach, the state is lobbying the interests of some citizens to the detriment of the interests of other citizens”.