Seizure of last UOC church announced in Ivano-Frankivsk

UOC Church of the Nativity of Christ in Ivano-Frankivsk. Photo: inlviv.in.ua

Raiders of the OCU have announced the seizure of the last UOC church that remains in Ivano-Frankivsk – the Church of the Nativity of Christ.

The activists' appeal was published on the Telegram channel "Ivano-Frankivsk 24/7 ONLINE".

"We appeal to all residents of Ivano-Frankivsk. There remains one church in our city which belongs to the Moscow Patriarchate. This Tuesday, March 28, at 15:00 at Dovzhenko Street, 2, the official vacation of this church and its transfer under the management of the Ukrainian Patriarchate will take place," the message said.

The raiders promised to take away the church "within the framework of the current legislation and not to violate it".

"There is information from our sources that the Moscow Patriarchate may attract 'titushkas' who will come from other cities to prevent us from doing this. So, we are asking all concerned city residents to join us," the raiders urged.

"Did we mishear? In this video on the city Telegram channel "Ivano-Frankivsk 24/7", two people are really calling on residents to "come and close" the UOC church. The last one in the entire region. This is a violation of the Constitution and the Law of Ukraine "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations". It is a shame and we refuse to believe what we see. Now, these people are coming to evict the community from the church that it built, and then they will go door to door and deport ‘all unwanted’ in freight cars – as it has already happened in Ukraine for the past 100 years," the parishioners of the church in Ivano-Frankivsk said.

As earlier reported, Bishop Nikita said that the destruction of the Ivano-Frankivsk Eparchy of the UOC is underway.

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