Uhryniv: Crown of thorns of a Rural Church

The saga around a small church in the , Horokhiv district, Volyn, will soon bore to death even those who only occasionally watch the latest news from the "battlefield". However, almost every day the fight for the church property, status, statutes and assets can reveal other details that prove that the church has literally become a battlefield for human souls, no less.

Any person who does evil or wrong subconsciously always feels guilty. What else would those who seized the church and, bypassing and violating the law, declared themselves owners of all the community property need? The consequences seem much more interesting.

As it turned out, the initiator of the seizure of the local church, a representative of the UOC-KP, a local "authority" and deputy of Volyn Regional Council, has nothing against the fact that Orthodox Christians of Uhryniv go to the UOC churches in other villages. In fact, farmers and employees of his businesses can’t only worship in the house where the head of the persecuted rural community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church lives and ministers. So, it turns out that in the whole neighborhood there is only one "enemy priest", the one of which he, Mr Deputy, during early clashes openly said that the community had no claims to the priest...

At present, there is an interesting balance of power in the village. The handful of people, who are not afraid to attend unwelcome by the "Master" service, is trated in a very unusual way. They are not touched. Instead, they are being tried by hook and by crook to take in the service of the Kyiv Patriarchate, which occupied the building, but the community holds their own, believing that their church has been desecrated in the fight. It turns out that the self-proclaimed masters need no house, no income, but the recognition of their rightness, which they are obviously not sure in any more.

However, the highlight of the open conflict over places of worship, the only one in the region so far, has become an unexpected step of Gorokhiv district council, which on July 24, 2015, supported the appeal of their colleagues from Lutsk and Volyn Council to the UOC followers with the request to leave their Church for benefit of a structure with a more demonstrative patriotic displays. Up to now, this is the only district council that has voted for the infamous document, which was mocked at by anybody in informed circles a few weeks ago.

However, as far as the church itself, the current situation is not funny. Renovations of the building, started shortly after the seizure, definitely were not arranged with the structures in charge of conservation of monuments of architecture. Thus, according to the official response from law enforcement officials, in such clashes all-too-common “post factum” worked: there is “no loss” for protection of the architectural monument.

A similar picture was seen by the police officers in fighting near the church, which occurred in March, 2015, when the priest of the UOC was not allowed to participate in the inspection of the building by the Commission appointed by the Ministry for Culture. As it turned out, the policemen found no indication of criminal offence in beating the priest. Today there is already another trial on this case, this time on inaction of law enforcement, but representatives of the District Prosecutor's Office for unknown reasons did not attend the first hearing on July 22.

However, the UOC followers noticed that the plaque, informing that this building is an architectural monument suddenly, disappeared from the wall at the entrance to their church.... If you look at the photo of Uhryniv church, which was attached to one of defamatory articles in the local press about the "dishonest priest", the plaque is seen to the right of the door. But in a newly taken photo the plaque is missing, and when and where it is gone nobody knows. Thus, rumors that the village head said, "Our church is not a tourist attraction any more" are justified? The church is still registered. By what logic new masters are guided is unclear.

What is the composition of wood next to the church? Informed sources still claim that this mysterious structure is to decorate the long-suffering building, inside of which fresh painting and newly made repairs have been peeled, just to "make it its own way." historians are unanimous in their verdict: if this material is to decorate the Church of the Elevation of the Holy Cross, it will lead to the distortion of the architectural monument. Even if you do have to cover the dome with gilded plates, the shining of the "church crown for the master” will hardly make people turn a blind eye to that misdeed. Will it stop people who are absolutely convinced of their impunity? Obviously, “new masters” are still on the look out, because they are trying to convince all around that this dome is designed for another abandoned and forgotten rural Orthodox church. Considering dimensions of the referred design parameters that match the perimeter of the roof on the disputed church, it is very similar to fraud.

Although the legal framework of the situation in the village goes farther to a standstill and has all the hallmarks of a real circus, relations in the rural community are gradually normalizing. Winning psychosis is decreasing. Summer work in the field is on the way, people are not sent to the church for the “crowd” effect because everyone is definitely preoccupied with other things. In the seized church nearly two dozen KP followers are present at the service – no more than in the house of the UOC priest, who is at danger of eviction from it. The enthusiasm and interest in the confrontation a la "the churchisours" is gradually falling, people want peace, it is their natural state. Sooner or later they will face the question who will maintain the seized building, which after the final capture lost the status of a trophy. What is next?

The KP community again requires the priest of the UOC to pay ephemeral "rent" for the church house in which he lives as a registered citizen and maintains it as an individual. A new bill impressed, starting with the envelope: a letter to the priest was sent to the address of the seized church but the priest trapped temple, and the addressant somehow "settled" in the disputed house.

If the informal master of the village is still apparently annoyed by disobedience of a rootless priest, the rest of the residents definitely have neither wish nor effort to conflict. The community wants peace. Peace is most wanted by those who are prohibited to attend services that meet their religious beliefs. However, despite the obvious facts, it is the violation of the believers’ rights that relevant structures fail to see. As well as they will not see a new dome for the church, which could distort it architecturally.

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