Rector: Visiting radicals want to seize the temple in Semipolky
Holy Trinity Church in the village of Semipolky, Kyiv region. Photo: semipolki.church.ua
On January 15, 2022, a meeting of the local community will be held in the village of Semipolky, Brovary district, Kyiv region, at which local residents will discuss the issue of transferring the Holy Trinity Church to the jurisdiction of the OCU.
As the rector of the temple, Archpriest Mykolai Lesko, told the UOJ, the reason for such a sudden desire to seize the church was the recent funeral service for a deceased soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, performed “in Russian”.
“On December 22, 2022, we buried Ihor Vasylenko, a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” says the priest. “He died in Avdiyivka. Some were indignant that we served ‘in Russian’, although it was in Church Slavonic. However, it had to be done in Ukrainian, in their opinion. Then this dirt got disseminated in local publics."
Batiushka is agitated by the overly aggressive rhetoric of some local residents who do not want a parish of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to exist in the village.
Even on New Year's Eve, a parish meeting was held in the church, at which its members testified their loyalty to the UOC and His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry.
Fr Mykolai noted that all the initiators of the seizure were visitors from the neighboring village of Rusaniv and had nothing to do with the community.
“We will stand, defend ourselves with all our strength,” the rector says. “I have already consulted with the members of our community, we will go to this meeting, we will listen to them. But if they raise the issue of transition, we will leave this action. If they want to form an OCU parish in the village, somewhere else, we do not mind, let them do what they want. But if the question of our parish arises, then it is out of question.”
As the UOJ reported, earlier, OCU supporters seized a temple in honor of the Archangel Michael of God and all the Bodiless Heavenly Forces in the village of Bilohorodka, Kyiv region.
Read also
Zelensky submitted to the Rada a bill on 23 national shrines
The bill proposes to hold state holidays, ceremonies, and military funerals at national shrines.
Patriarch Bartholomew Celebrated a Service for Ukrainians in Istanbul
The Ecumenical Patriarch expressed hope to visit Kyiv again after the war.
Novynskyi: Monk’s murder stems from hatred fueled against UOC
UOC Protodeacon Vadym Novynskyi said the murder of Monk Varsonofiy at the Sviatohirsk Lavra was a manifestation of hatred, lawlessness and persecution of the Church.
Serbian Church in US denies reports of involvement in honoring Zelensky
The Eastern American Diocese of the Serbian Church commented on reports alleging that Bishop Irinej would take part in presenting an award to the Ukrainian president.
OCU cleric calls UOC an “enemy” and urges unity with Greek Catholics
An OCU cleric said the presence of the UOC in Ukraine amounts to the “presence of the enemy” and called for unification with Greek Catholics.
DESS finds Zaporizhzhia Eparchy affiliated with ROC
Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnopolitics identified three signs of ties between the administration of the UOC’s Zaporizhzhia Eparchy and the ROC through the Kyiv Metropolia.