"They entered through the side door": Bila Tserkva Diocese of UOC tells about seizure of church by OCU representatives

The Bila Tserkva Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church reported the details of the seizure of the St. Panteleimon Church of the UOC in Bila Tserkva by supporters of the OCU. The press service of the diocese said that the raiders entered the church premises early in the morning, having previously broken the lock of one of the doors of the church. This was reported by the official website of the Bila Tserkva Eparchy of the UOC.

“The administration of the Bila Tserkva Eparchy regrets to inform that on March 21 in the morning, after the curfew ended, representatives of the OCU entered the territory of the St. Panteleimon Church and, having damaged the core of the lock of the side door, entered the church. The seizure of the church took place in the presence of law enforcement officers with the support of the city authorities, who facilitated the organization and conduct of the illegal re-registration of the statutory documents. We ask for prayers for the rector of the church, Archpriest Vladimir, and the grieving parishioners,” – the press service of the diocese said in a statement.

Earlier we reported that in the city of Bila Tserkva, Kyiv region, another church was taken away from the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in favor of the OCU. It is a church in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon. According to media reports, the church was taken away from the UOC religious community by court order. Mykola Hopainych, a chaplain of the OCU, was in charge of the procedure.