Earlier, Natalia Rebrova, director general of the Chernihiv Ancient Reserve, said that the institution would continue to use the churches of Chernihiv taken from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church not for their intended purpose but for organizing secular and cultural events. Rebrova argues that since these churches are architectural monuments that are a historical heritage, they cannot be used exclusively for worship.
Chernihiv Eparchy of the UOC continues to fight for Yelets Monastery in courts
The Chernihiv Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church continues to seek in court to overturn the decision to expropriate the complex of premises of the Holy Trinity Yelets Convent, which was taken away from the Church in 2014. The lawyer of the diocese, Alexander Shamko, fears that sooner or later the monastery may be transferred to private ownership or to some foreign organization. He said this in a commentary to the regional publication CheLine.
«The owner of the property today is the state. And we do not know what will happen next. Will this property remain in state ownership in the future. I do not exclude that in the future this property may either be transferred to the ownership of private individuals or transferred to the structure of some foreign organization for the purpose of its further preservation,» — said Oleksandr Shamko.
The lawyer added that the issue of expropriation of church property of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Chernihiv and the region in favor of the state has a political connotation and is an act of prejudice against the UOC.
«I ask the court to abstract itself from the artificially created excitement around this case, no matter how much the plaintiff’s representatives assure us that this is not a political issue, that it is an exclusively legal issue, that it does not concern the UOC, that we are only following the law, etc. But their actions and statements in the media say the opposite,» — he added.
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