OCU supporters seize UOC church in Novyi Korets of Rivne Eparchy

St. Paraskeva's Church in Novyi Korets

Supporters of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine have cut the locks on the St. Paraskeva Church in Novyi Korets and justified their actions with forged documents to the church on social networks, as reported by the press service of the Rivne Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

On April 4, 2023, at about 5 p.m., supporters of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine came to the St. Paraskeva Church in Novyi Korets to cut off the locks on the church doors with an angle grinder.

UOC worshippers were kicked out of the church and not allowed to take record anything so all the photos and videos were taken from a distance.

According to eyewitnesses, the OCU supporters were divided into two groups: twenty people stood in front of the entrance to the church, while the rest broke down the door to the temple.

The locals do not know the man who was cutting the locks with an angle grinder – he has never gone to church.

After the old locks were cut on the doors of the church, the OCU followers put their own locks and went inside.

Local OCU activist Maxim Sas posted on his Facebook page the documents on the "basis" of which the OCU supporters took over the St. Paraskeva Church in Novyi Korets.

The new religious organization will be headed by a woman, Lesia Turovits, who, in fact, was the main initiator of the OCU meeting.

Archpriest Vasyl Nachiv, head of the Social Department of the Rivne Eparchy of the UOC, says that the religious community of the UOC Paraskeva parish in Novyi Korets has all the necessary documents to the church, which were prepared back in 1991, and no one has cancelled them.

"Criminal proceedings regarding the forgery of documents by people from the OCU have been opened! OCU supporters have always followed the path of lies from the meeting to the production of documents," Father Vasyl commented on the situation.

He noted that the first meeting concerning the so-called "transition" took place on the territory of the St. Paraskeva Church with the participation of both religious communities.

After the vote, the OCU organizers admitted their defeat and shook the priest's hand, and a week later they held a meeting at the village club without UOC believers. Based on this 'meeting', they forged documents on the ownership of the St. Paraskeva Church," the eparchy said.

As reported, the Orthodox youth of Rivne published an appeal to the persecutors of the UOC.

Read also