UOC church seized in Lviv region, where OCU and UGCC staged a provocation with a funeral service for a soldier

On October 3, 2024, a territorial meeting was held in the village of Vidniv, Lviv region, on the issue of the confessional affiliation of the local church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The result of the event was the “transfer” of the said church and the religious community of the UOC to the ownership of the OCU. This is reported by the Telegram channel of the Lviv Regional Administration.

“Today, the religious community of the village of Vydniv of the Kulykivka territorial community at a general meeting decided to break ties with the Moscow Patriarchate and join the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, this religious community has been a center of disputes and conflicts,” – the statement reads.

In addition, the Lviv Regional State Administration does not deny that the reason for such actions on the part of local authorities was the recent conflict in the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in the village of Vydniv, which was provoked by representatives of the OCU and the UGCC, who demanded that the UOC priest open the building for funeral events for a local resident who died in the war.

“The fact that in October the priest of the Moscow Patriarchate refused to hold a funeral service for a Ukrainian defender killed in the war became a catalyst for the process of the final withdrawal of this community from the structure of Moscow. The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Vydniv (1738), which is an architectural monument of national importance, was the last religious building in the Lviv region owned by a religious community in unity with the Moscow Patriarchate. Currently, 7 other religious communities in the Lviv region remain under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church. I hope they will get rid of this shame as soon as possible. Because we cannot pray for those and together with those who have their hands in the blood of our fellow citizens!” – the RSA added.

We will remind, on October 14, 2024, in the village of Vidniv, Lviv region, representatives and supporters of the UGCC and the OCU provoked a conflict over the local religious community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The cause of the scandal was the funeral of a local resident, Armed Forces soldier Mykhailo Sharpil, who was being buried by representatives of the Greek Catholic Church. The UGCC side brought the body of the deceased to the local UOC church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and forced the UOC priest to perform the funeral service for the soldier in an Orthodox church according to the Greek Catholic rite.