UOC parish, whose church is about to be seized in favor of the OCU, appeals to US Vice President to influence the situation

The St. Basil’s religious community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the village of Pidzakharychi, Chernivtsi region, recorded an appeal addressed to the US government and US Vice President Jay Vance, asking them to influence the situation with the upcoming seizure of the local church by representatives of the OCU. The rector and parishioners point out that on their behalf, the so-called territorial meeting was held in the local house of culture, which was attended by about 60 people who voted for the “transfer” of St. Basil’s Church of the UOC to the OCU, while the members of the community of the canonical Church number more than 170, but their position is not taken into account. We publish the text of the statement posted on the Pravblog Telegram channel in full.

«Dear Christians, we inform you that our parish has appealed to the government of the United States of America, namely to US Vice President Jay Vance, for the following reasons:

1. On 26.01.2025, a “fake” and illegal meeting was held in our village of Pidzakharychi, Bukovyna, where unknown persons (61 people in total) in the house of culture, on behalf of our religious community of St. Basil’s Church of the UOC, voted to leave the Orthodox faith and transfer to the OCU.

2. Forged documents for our church are being prepared. And then a forceful assault with rebar, grinders, and militants to shed Christian blood and seize our Orthodox church.

3. We, 172 people, parishioners of the church, residents of the village of Pidzakharychi, were not allowed to attend the illegal meeting (so that we could not testify to the falsification and absurdity of the situation in general). The National Police, the Vyzhnytsia Military Administration, and the Chernivtsi Regional Military Administration were informed of the blatant ban on the free expression of the will of Ukrainians. The minutes of the meeting stating that we remain in the bosom of the UOC under the leadership of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy were handed over to them.

4. We know that an assault on the church is being prepared. The “OCU” has hired a gang of Muslim Maxim Abdulrahimovich Suleymanov. Children and women may suffer, they may be beaten on the head with rebar, as it was in Lenkivtsi, Vaslovivtsi, Zadubrivka, Malyi Kuchuriv.

5. The police are inactive and usually only protect militants in balaclavas. The authorities ignore the appeals of people who have been praying and caring for the church for years. We know how documents were forged in Zadubrivka, Mikhalcha, etc.

6. We have appealed to the US government, to US Vice President Jay Vance: he is young, energetic, interested in the observance of religious freedoms and Christian values, and we believe that he will respond to our appeal.

7. Our fellow Bukovynians living in the United States are preparing a letter to Marco Rubio, the head of the State Department, about the blatant discrimination and humiliation of Orthodox Christians in Pidzakharychi and in Ukraine in general.

8. Tomorrow, documents for the U.S. Embassy will be handed over to Kyiv so that the United States can intervene in our situation, protect Christian and family values, and save the residents of Pidzakharychi from the bloodshed and atrocities committed by the bandits brought to storm the village.

9. Our friends in Kyiv are organizing a meeting with Ambassador Bridget Brink. We are waiting for the date of the meeting to be fixed.

10. We invited a UN monitoring group and an OSCE human rights officer. We were informed that our issue was taken under control.

11. Everyone must work to protect the shrine, the truth, the Orthodox faith. You all saw how the “OCU” seized the church in the village of Kresayevo, and they are wiping their asses in the toilet near the church with holy books, the Word of God. We must work hard to protect our shrine and visit the church more often. Involve all our friends and acquaintances to tell the truth about our parish so that the invaders do not wipe their asses with our holy books, which our grandparents and great-grandparents have been praying with for 100 years, people who have nothing sacred.

12. This is a temple for prayer, a temple for love, a temple for peace! This is the house of God.