UOC continues legal battle for Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir after eviction

Representatives of the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church continue their legal struggle for the right to use the Holy Dormition Cathedral of the UOC in Volodymyr-Volynskyi, despite the eviction that took place a month ago. Currently, the cathedral has been transferred to a state reserve, but the issue of ownership of church property, including church relics, remains unresolved.

According to the regional publication Misto Media, a month ago, the executive service expropriated the Holy Dormition Cathedral of Volodymyr-Volynskyi from representatives of the local diocese of the UOC. After that, the property was transferred to the balance sheet of the State Historical and Cultural Reserve «Ancient Volodymyr,» which is managed by the Department of Culture of the Volyn Regional Administration.

Despite the expropriation of the cathedral, the issue of property remains open. Representatives of the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the UOC claim that they did not have time to take some of their belongings, including icons, chalices, and crosses. Currently, these items are in the custody of the executive service and the new balance holder.

Volodymyr Pykalyuk, head of the Ancient Volodymyr Reserve, commented on the situation, emphasizing the need to develop a legal strategy to resolve the issue. «It is too early to make clear statements. We need to find out what exactly belongs to the religious community and what is a cultural heritage site. To this end, a legal strategy and methodology for the return of property is being developed,» he explained.

Earlier, we reported that the head of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko would hold religious events in the Holy Dormition Cathedral of Volodymyr-Volynskyi, which was taken away from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This was reported by Ukrainian MP Ihor Huz, who exerted pressure on local governments to speed up the expropriation of the property of the Vladimir-Volyn Diocese of the UOC.