The court refuses to satisfy the claim of Met. Simeon banned in ministry

The building of Vinnitsa Court of Appeal

On February 5, 2019, the Vinnitsa Appellate Court satisfied the appeals of representatives of the UOC Metropolis of Kiev, the official web portal Judicial Power of Ukraine reported.

Hereby, it reversed the court decision of December 28, 2018 on securing a lawsuit of Metropolitan Simeon (Shostatsky), forbidden in ministry for backsliding into schism, in which he demanded to reinstate him as a ruling bishop of the Vinnitsa eparchy.

“Securing a claim is the adoption by the court, which proceeds the case, of measures to protect the claimant’s substantive interests against the defendant’s unscrupulous actions (who may, in particular, conceal property, sell, destroy or devalue it), which guarantees the actual performance of positively accepted decisions and protection of the rights of the claimant," explains the web portal.

The press service of the Vinnitsa court stated that the court will inform about the motivation of its decision later when the text of the court decision is ready.

“Thus, the Vinnitsa court lifted the ban on the state registration of Archbishop Varsonofy as a chancellor of the Vinnitsa eparchy. The Vinnitsa eparchy welcomes a fair decision of the court, which restored the legality in relation to their leader and archpastor,” the website of the Vinnitsa eparchy of the UOC commented the decision of the appellate court.

On December 28, 2018, Metropolitan Simeon (Shostatsky) appealed to the Vinnitsa City Court of Vinnitsa region with a statement of claim in which he demanded that he be reinstated as a ruling bishop of the Vinnitsa eparchy.

The trial, which was scheduled for January 30, 2019, did not take place due to the judge’s illness. On this day, the former parishioners of the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral, illegally seized by Metropolitan Simeon, along with other believers of Vinnitsa, gathered at the courthouse for prayerful standing.

Read also