Conflict for the Church in a Village near Uzhhorod is Fomented Artificially?

In Transcarpathia there is a new incident with the distribution of church property. The other day, as it became known in the media, the local community of Greek Catholics blocked the road near the village of Velyki Lazy, Uzhhorod district. This time again the point is that believers of another denomination were admitted to the so-called alternate worship in the church, which was given to the UOC community. The Greek-Catholic community appeals to the court decision that allows access to the rural Holy Ascension Church. However, nobody is quick to comply with it, which supposedly caused outrage among the faithful.

Rector of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Archpriest Basil Rusaniuk commented on the circumstances of the case. He has been at the head of the local Orthodox community for 14 years and recently audited all the documents confirming the right of his parishioners to use the church building - a monument of architecture, which will soon be two hundred years.

According to him, the present situation has been lasting in the village for more than two decades, but access to the church has never caused conflict so far. The Greek-Catholic community is small-numbered, so it was allocated a former big eight-room priest house for worship service. Greek Catholics have put forward absolutely no complaints or claims to their Orthodox villagers. Even now, says Fr. Basil, disputes arise only when executive officials or law enforcement officers come to the village. In general, the Orthodox divine service is performed safely, with no attacks on the church or attempts to seize it. However, the community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is determined seriously: a religious building belongs to the UOC and it won’t give consent to alternate service in it.

As for the long-standing court decision on the order of worship, it was agreed upon almost 10 years ago, but no one has ever carried it out (according to statistics, only every fourth court decision is generally performed in Ukraine) - there was no real need. The sole reason why it is recalled in time now is elections, from the point of view of the priest.

Earlier the community of Greek Catholics has not only been allocated a temporary office for worship, but also the land for construction of their own church, and with the help of local authorities even poured concrete for a foundation. However, until now these people have put little effort to complete their own place for worship service, because, they obviously did not have a need for it.

Orthodox and Greek Catholic communities have never conflicted with each other, and who needs it so urgently now is unknown. So, the report about "ongoing conflict" in the village of Velyki Lazy is not completely reliable. The local Orthodox church has never been the object for devision, but "inter-confessional" protests like blocking the high way will probably be repeated for some time yet.

Source: "About the Church" portal

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