UGCC: The cleric sentenced to 3-year imprisonment retains priesthood

The UGCC cleric’s car burned out at the scene of the accident after committing a drunken accident. Photo: tp.npu.gov.ua

The Buchach Diocese of the UGCC informed that their cleric, whom the court sentenced to 3 years in prison for a drunken accident, would still remain a clergyman. This was reported by the online edition of Terminovo.te.ua.

The accident, which occurred on July 20, 2019, was provoked by the multi-children clergyman of the UGCC who was driving under the influence. 7 people were injured in this accident.

“A man receives on his soul the seal of the Gift of the Holy Spirit, which cannot be erased. And when they talk about the deprivation of priestly dignity, they mean a ban from ministry – the actual performance of the functions a priest is supposed to do. Therefore, a consecrated clergyman remains a priest,” said Anton Krushelnytsky, press secretary of the Buchach Diocese of the UGCC.

He upheld that not a single criminal case has been instituted against the clergy of the diocese over the past 12 years. As for the above accident, the diocese allegedly learned about it from the journalists.

The diocese also does not know so far whether the perpetrator will be able to continue his ministry after being released from prison. According to A. Krushelnitsky, it will be possible to talk about the future fate of the cleric only after the “final decision of the third instance court upon filing an appeal”.

“The priest, out of frivolity, in addition to the harm inflicted on the injured party, caused harm to his family, which consists of a wife and six children. All of them are dependent on him. The Father himself moves on crutches. Therefore, the leadership of the diocese also asks to take these circumstances into account and hopes for a fair and merciful verdict of the court of last resort,” the press secretary of the Buchach Diocese of the UGCC emphasized.

Liubov Garvasiuk, the village head of Grinkovtsev, said that the parishioners of the clergyman were shocked by what had happened, because they had never seen their rector in a state of intoxication before.

“When the accident occurred, people did not know what had happened and handed over money to treat their priest, because he was also injured. They donated 100-500 UAH. But when they learnt the truth, they stopped donating money,” said L. Garvasiuk and added that many people were disappointed with the cleric of the UGCC after everything had been cleared up.

According to her, the community will not accept him back.

“I think he will hardly return here, because people are so that they can remember everything from the year one. It would be uncomfortable for him to continue to live here,” she concluded.

Earlier, the UGCC in Sokal opened a funeral services store for the parishioners’ money.

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