Volyn RSA – to UOC community: You’d be re-registered even with 3 signatures

St. Nicholas Church in the village of Myshev. Photo: Bug

The St. Nicholas community of the UOC in the village of Myshev in the Ivanichi district of the Volyn region has already held two services in a row at the belfry: the other day, the local church was sealed by the police. For several consecutive months, starting from May 16, when the community was transferred to the OCU without its knowledge and consent, people have been defending their property and waiting for a court decision. However, over the weekend, a few OCU activists attempted to take over the temple, reports a UOJ correspondent.

As Archpriest Ivan Shcherban, rector of the UOC community, explained, the vast majority of parishioners in the village rejected the idea of moving to a new church structure. This is confirmed by the fact that despite the re-registration, the OCU members fail to seize the St. Nicholas Church: there is no support in the village as such.

The fact that the Myshev parish of the UOC does not go anywhere has been confirmed more than once by the meeting minutes of the religious community. However, for some reason, the Volyn RSA took into account a different protocol, where activists of the OCU entered all those they managed to find.

In proceedings, officials told believers that re-registration would have been carried out even if three people had signed the protocol.

At the moment, a change in the jurisdiction of the community is being considered in court. Like many other parishes, the community in Myshev is awaiting a decision of the Supreme Court. However, this weekend, believers will have to decide where to go to the liturgy: on November 30, after a public confrontation between the community and the OCU activists, law enforcement officers who prevented the conflict put their locks on the temple.

So far, a belfry has been opened in the church. According to the abbot, this is a spacious room, perhaps the community will decide that for the sake of peace in the village, believers will gather here. However, it is not known how the PCU asset will behave in the event of any concessions from the UOC community.

As for the statements that the "majority" of Myshev parishioners supposedly shifted to the OCU were dispelled by the events of the last weekend. Law enforcers counted 150 residents of the village who gathered in the church grounds, of which 117 people signed up for the UOC community on documents that day: it turns out that a little more than thirty people from the OCU came to the church.

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