Vinnytsia Eparchy refutes Yurash’s false claims about Luka-Meleshkivska parish

The UOC community in the village of Luka-Meleshkivska. Photo: eparhia.vinnica.ua

On October 13, 2019, the press secretary of the Vinnytsia Eparchy, Archpriest Volodymyr Puchkov, told a UOJ correspondent that at the meeting of the Transfiguration parish of the village of Luka-Meleshkivska in the Vinnytsia region, more than 300 parishioners confirmed their loyalty to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This directly contradicts the information published by the Director of the Department for Religious Affairs and Nationalities of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, Andrii Yurash.

On October 11, Yurash wrote on Facebook, commenting on the decision of the Vinnytsia City Court to suspend Ihor Saletskyi, head of the Department for Nationalities and Religions, from his duties:

“The situation in the village of Luka-Meleshkivska is very telling. There, 415 members of the religious community (there is a corresponding protocol) held a meeting at which they supported the process of transition. The local rector did not agree with the opinion of the absolute majority of his own community and held another meeting, during which 15 members of the same religious community voted for the decision to remain within the structure of the UOC-MP (another alternative protocol was drawn up). Thus, the ratio of those who want change and those who want to remain subordinate to the old church center (the UOC-MP) looks like 27 to 1.”

The Vinnytsia Eparchy categorically refuted Yurash’s claims.

When asked by UOJ whether it was true that only 15 people attended the parish meeting in Luka-Meleshkivska, Archpriest Volodymyr Puchkov replied:

“No. Apparently, this refers to a meeting held in the village club, where many believers were not allowed to enter. The community, numbering more than 300 people, held its own meeting in the church and unanimously expressed its decision to remain loyal to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.”

This information is also confirmed by an official statement published on the website of the Vinnytsia Eparchy.

“In Luka-Meleshkivska, decisions on changing the subordination of the local religious community were taken not by a religious assembly, but by a territorial village community. And regardless of what Mr. Yurash, Mr. Saletskyi, and the head of the Luka-Meleshkivska amalgamated territorial community may say – who, incidentally, even issued a certificate stating that it was precisely a religious community that gathered in the local club, despite having no authority to do so – the participants of the meeting in the club are not included in the list of members of the religious community of Luka-Meleshkivska. This list, duly certified by the ruling bishop, was submitted in the prescribed manner to the Department for Religious Affairs and Nationalities of the Vinnytsia Regional State Administration,” the statement explains.

As the UOJ previously reported, on January 26, 2019, a meeting of the parish community was held at the Transfiguration Church in the village of Luka-Meleshkivska, where parishioners voted to remain within the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

On the same day, a separate “assembly” of the territorial community took place at the local House of Culture, attended by individuals in military uniform. Activists in camouflage – among whom Vinnytsia regional administration official Andrii Hrachev was noticed – behaved aggressively and prevented members of the religious community from participating in the vote. As a result, the meeting that declared the “transfer” of the church to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine was held in violation of proper procedure.

Afterward, members of the UOC community gathered again in their church and declared the vote on transferring to the OCU invalid. Parishioners also recorded a video address in which members of the community once again testified to their loyalty to His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry.

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