UOC parishes in Bila Tserkva sue city council for land under churches

The parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the city of Bila Tserkva, Kyiv region, are suing the local city council for the ownership of land plots under UOC churches. This situation has arisen due to the fact that in April 2023, the Bila Tserkva City Council decided to deprive the parishes of the UOC of the right to ownership of the land plots used by them. This is reported by Espresso.

According to the Bila Tserkva City Council, all religious communities of the UOC filed lawsuits with the Economic Court to cancel the illegal decision of the local authorities. The Northern Economic Court of Appeal considered the appeal of the parish of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg, and other cassation appeals against the appeal decisions were pending in the Economic Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court.

The stages of the lawsuits challenging the city council’s decisions are as follows:

• The parish of St. Martyr Tatiana was completely denied, the same applies to the convent of St. Mary Magdalene, the Nativity of Christ, and the Apostles Peter and Paul. The Bila Tserkva Eparchy of the UOC filed two appeals against these decisions;
• The parish of St. Luke of Voyno-Yasenetsky was denied in its claims in full;
• Two more cases involving the Administration of the Bila Tserkva Eparchy of the UOC and the parish of St. Panteleimon the Great Martyr are pending in the court of first instance;
• The Themis upheld the claims of the parishes of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg, the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, and the Nativity of John the Baptist, but the city council filed appeals and cassation appeals.

As we reported earlier, on November 12, 2024, the Economic Court of Volyn Oblast held a regular hearing in the case of the possible eviction of the Administration of the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the complex of premises of the Holy Dormition Cathedral in Volodymyr-Volynskyi, which also houses the diocesan administration and theological school. The judges ordered the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the UOC to leave the premises and transfer them to the state. The diocese was given 20 days to move out.