Expert: Authorities preparing a massive wave of seizures of UOC communities

Authorities plan to ensure by force the transfer of believers to the SLC, Pikhovshek believes

The Ukrainian authorities are preparing or will support a large-scale wave of seizures of UOC communities, said the political expert and journalist Viacheslav Pikhovshek in the program “Subjective Results”, commenting on the statements of the representative of the Ministry of Culture Andrei Yurash that more than 50% of UOC communities will enter the new church structure.

According to Pikhovshek, since 2014, even one per cent of UOC communities have not voluntarily gone under the jurisdiction of the Kiev Patriarchate, despite propaganda and “total informational and administrative pressure”.

“Based on such realities, it is possible to come to one very sad conclusion: it seems that the authorities are preparing or will support a large-scale wave of seizures of UOC communities,” said the political analyst. “My guess lies on the surface. But how else can the transition of more than 50% of the communities of the canonical Church to another structure be ensured if during all these years there has been less than 1% of such transfers? The answer is simple – only by force. Otherwise, to achieve such targets is simply impossible."

Earlier, Andrei Yurash, director of the Department for Religious Affairs and Nationalities of the Ministry of Culture, said that the Kiev-Pechersk and Holy Dormition Pochaev Lavras are in state ownership, and it is up to the state to determine their future fate.

As the UOJ reported, on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers they registered a petition demanding to cancel the order of the Cabinet of Ministers on the rent-free transfer of the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra to the UOC. The abbot of Pochaev Lavra, Metropolitan Vladimir of Pochaev, reported the threats against the monastery and asked for prayer support, calling, if necessary, to protect the shrine.

Read also