Ombudsman Lubinets demands the Ministry of Culture to immediately hand over St. Nicholas Cathedral to the Catholic community because of the security threat

The Ukrainian parliamentary commissioner for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets, has called on the Ukrainian Culture Ministry to urgently hand over the St. Nicholas church in Kiev to the Roman Catholic community. This demand is based on the current court ruling, orders of the authorities of past years, as well as on the revealed violations of fire and technical safety, which, according to him, pose a real threat to the lives of parishioners.

According to Radio Liberty, Dzmitry Lubinets appealed to the Ministry of Culture on December 11, 2025 to implement the court decision on the transfer of the temple, as also reported by Radio Liberty. According to the ombudsman, the Catholic community repeatedly appealed for help because of the delay in the process, despite the existence of both the court decision and the orders of the authorities of previous years, obliging to hand over the temple.

Lubinets emphasized that the church building is in a state of emergency, and further delay in its transfer jeopardizes the safety of hundreds of parishioners. During the monitoring visit, conducted by his office, there were established facts of serious violations of fire and technical safety requirements, which confirms the critical condition of the building.

The ombudsman noted that despite the concluded memorandum between the Ministry of Culture and the Roman Catholic community, the actual implementation of the court decision has not started. «Every day hundreds of people find themselves under a real threat to their lives! And all this is the inaction of the owner and balance holder, which can have tragic consequences! Since the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine avoids dialog and refuses to meet with representatives of the religious community, this only indicates a conscious blocking of the process,» said Dmytro Lubinets, expressing concern.

In light of these circumstances, the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada called on the Ministry of Culture to immediately start enforcing the court decision, guarantee the rights of the religious community and immediately eliminate the dangerous technical condition of the church.

Recall, earlier we reported that the Supreme Court of Ukraine obliged the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy to transfer the Church of St. Nicholas in Kiev to the capital’s Roman Catholic religious community. The parish of St. Nicholas church in Kiev reported that the Supreme Court of Ukraine (Cassation Administrative Court) rejected the cassation appeals of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine and the National House of Organ and Chamber Music.