Ministry of Culture Commissioned the Investigation of Seizures of the UOC Churches

The Administration of the President and the Office of the Prosecutor General refused to consider complaints about seizures of churches and sent them to the Ministry of Culture. This was said by the press service of the Rivne eparchy of the UOC (Moscow Patriarchate).

"In response to the claim of our parishioners to the President and other authorities to intervene and stop arbitrary acts, we got a reply that our case will be considered by the Ministry of Culture. We reported criminal offenses, seizure of private property, physical violence and persecution on religious grounds. These cases should be investigated by the police and prosecutors but not by the Ministry of Culture. They seem to openly scoff at us "- said Gerlinsky.

According to Father Vitaly, even the PGO readdressed the parishioners’ petition to the Ministry of Culture. The only agency that started considering the open letter without delay is the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada. "To control the fire fighting has already been entrusted to the Ministry of Culture. Now they are forced to fight crime. I wonder what the next mission will be - a mission to Mars? "- the priest sounded outraged.

Father Vitaly was supported by his colleague from Ternopil region Father Basil Goryuk. His church in the village Bashuky was seized on 14th June. "Our basic civil rights are trampled upon in presence of the police. The parishioners have been insulted and humiliated. The officials who do not put up with the abuse of power have been threatened. Finally, they (Kyiv Patriarchate) openly took control of the church by force on 14th June. To use it we have all the documents. For two weeks officials of different levels have promised us to gather for a round table talk and restore law and order. But nothing has been done yet. And apparently, no one wants to do anything, no one wants to mess with Kiev Patriarchate. Well, we do not lose faith in Lord, but we are beginning to lose faith in the Ukrainian law ", - said Goryuk.

The parishioners of the Rivne eparchy of the UOC made a claim to the President and law enforcement officers for the protection on 2nd June, 2015.  In the open letter they stated that the representatives of the UOC (Kiev Patriarchate) are engaged in raiding, seizing churches from legal owners.

Source: www.korrespondent.net

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