Kirovograd eparchy reports violations of UOC rights to OSCE representatives

Metropolitan Joasaph of Kirovograd and Novy Mirgorod meeting with an OSCE representative

On September 19, Metropolitan Joasaph of Kirovograd and Novy Mirgorod met with the officer of the OSCE special monitoring mission in Ukraine Darlene Jackson, reports the press service of the Kirovograd eparchy.

At the meeting, Bishop Joasaph discussed the general religious situation in the region, told the OSCE representative about the activities of the clergy of the Kirovograd region to assist the settlers from the Donbass.

Metropolitan Joasaph also expressed concern over the provocations against the UOC, which are circulated in the media, unfairly discrediting and discriminating the canonical Church.

The spokesman for the eparchy, Protodeacon John Ganchin, who also took part in the meeting, said that since 2014 the regional state administration bodies have not registered any Statute of a religious organization submitted for registration. The reason for refusal of registration was the wording "return for revision", which does not comply with the norms of the current legislation and is a gross violation of the Constitution of Ukraine.

The OSCE officer was also reported about the violations of the construction and inspection bodies of the district regarding the construction of a church in the village of Torgovitsa.

Earlier, the head of the Representative Office of the UOC to the European international organizations, Bishop Viktor (Kotsaba) said at the OSCE meeting in Warsaw that the hate speech against the UOC is increasing in the Ukrainian society.

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