Earlier, we reported that 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, a so-called territorial meeting was held in the local house of culture, attended by about 60 people who voted for the “transfer” of St. Basil’s Church of the UOC to the OCU, while the community members of the canonical Church number more than 170, but their position is not taken into account.
Khmelnytsky Eparchy of UOC comments on seizure of church in Krasyliv
The press service of the Khmelnytsky Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church issued a statement on the occasion of the seizure of the Holy Resurrection Church of the UOC in Krasyliv, Khmelnytsky region, by supporters of the OCU. The diocese notes that not only representatives of the Ukrainian schism, but also local authorities and the police took part in the seizure. The message was published on the diocese’s Telegram channel.
“On May 15, 2025, at 8 o’clock in the morning in the city of Krasyliv, Khmelnytsky district, a group of OCU supporters brutally broke into the Holy Resurrection Church, which belongs to the Religious Community of the Holy Resurrection Church in Krasyliv, Krasyliv district, Khmelnytsky Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Such unlawful actions took place under the guise of the execution of an unjustified court decision “on the obligation not to obstruct the use of the church” with the participation of a former priest of the UOC, and today of the OCU, Ivan Kulinich, the head of the district department of the state executive service, Roman Khabal, local officials and police officers. At the same time, throughout the day, police officers did not allow believing parishioners of the religious community to enter the church, which was recorded on video footage of the event,” – the report says.
The diocese noted that a few years earlier, the Resurrection community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Krasyliv held a parish meeting, during which it was decided to remain under the jurisdiction of the UOC under the leadership of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy of Kyiv and All Ukraine. However, this decision was ignored by the supporters of the OCU and local authorities, who decided to take away the Resurrection Church from the community regardless.
In connection with the incident, the Khmelnytsky Eparchy of the UOC decided to defend the rights of the Krasyliv religious community in international instances.
“The religious community of the Holy Resurrection Church in Krasyliv, Krasyliv district of the Khmelnytsky Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church cannot accept lawlessness and disregard for their rights, and therefore will defend their rights to freedom of religion in a legal manner at the national and international level,” – the press service added.
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