In Rachin UOC-KP supporters prevent UOC community to conduct services and build a new church

The village of Rachin, Dubno district, Rivne region, followers of the Kiev Patriarchate, with the support of radicals from the "Cossack guard" and the village head Alexander Krivichun, threatening and provoking the conflict, demanded that the priest and the UOC believers should stop the construction of a church and cease any service in St. Barbara chapel, reports the press service of the Rivne diocese.

During the conflict, the village head Alexander Krivichun, referring to the decision of Rachin village council signed by him, demanded to ban the construction of the chapel of the UOC in the village of Rachin and to oblige the UOC community to leave the premises of St. Barbara chapel, where the community is conducting church service, till 20:00, May 24.

Some representatives of the Kiev Patriarchate, including deputies of the village council, were in a state of intoxication, and rudely, without choosing expressions, threatened the priest and the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

"What else do they want? We gave them the church and the church house, giving in to their demands. Leave us in peace and prayer," commented on the conflict one of the local residents of the village, an eyewitness of the event. According to her, hearing screams and swearing, the faithful of the UOC drew to the place of the conflict.

It is to be recalled that on September 1, 2014, in the village of Rachin, Dubno district, Rivne region, representatives of the Kiev Patriarchate seized the Church of the Kazan Mother of God, depriving the community of the UOC the right to pray in their own church. According to the press service of the Rivne diocese, the Kiev Patriarchate used unlawful methods of attribution of the property – by carrying out the so called "referendum" with the participation of all the village residents, but not according to the decision of the religious community, as provided by the legislation of Ukraine.

In order to avoid conflict in the village senior priest Andrei Decker and the UOC believers voluntarily gave the church and the church house up to the Kyiv Patriarchate and after that began to use for worship St. Barbara chapel in the village cemetery.

Over time, the UOC community felt in need of a bigger house and decided to construct its own church building. For this needs the land was allocated and all the approvals were received. But the head of the village council in every way prevents the start of the construction. On May 22, he initiated a meeting of the villagers, where he raised a question, whether to allow the UOC community to build a church house in the village. At the same time the official meeting turned into propaganda of the so-called "Ukrainian Church," allowing anti-clerical statements and aggressive accusations against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its believers.

Read also