UOC cleric’s house in Zolochiv painted with slurs and Nazi symbols

The inscription on the fence of the house of the UOC priest in Zolochiv. Photo: Lviv Eparchy

In the city of Zolochiv, Lviv region, unidentified people painted the house of the clergyman of the UOC with offensive inscriptions and Nazi symbols. Archpriest Alexander Ivanchenko, secretary of the Lviv Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, informed the UOJ about this incident.

“A group of young men, about 3 persons, committed an act of vandalism against the family of a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” said Father Alexander. “It might have happened at night. The priest's property was significantly damaged. The fencing around the house was covered with paint, insulting inscriptions and Nazi symbols.”

In the photo from the scene of the incident, provided to the editors of the UOJ, one can see the inscriptions “get away with the ROC”, “blood on your hands”, spots of “blood” and Nazi symbols printed on the fence.

On the eve, a scandal erupted in Zolochiv over the alleged construction of the UOC temple under the guise of a residential building. The alarm was sounded by public activists, representatives of the UGCC and city deputies. Mayor Igor Grinkov said “there will be no Moscow church” in Zolochiv and initiated an extraordinary session of the City Council, at which the deputies unanimously voted to ban the construction.

Outraged activists organized a night “watch” at the house of the UOC clergyman, and the mayor Grinkov recorded an urgent video address.

“For several days, we have been all alarmed by the attempt to create a Moscow church in our city,” he said on his FB page. “All last night long, deputies of the city council, members of the city executive committee, members of the "Miska Varta" public organization were on duty in Trush Street in Zolochiv. We managed to establish and fix a meeting of people, among whom there are Zolochiv residents and residents of nearby villages. The information was immediately transferred to law enforcement. I reiterate that in Trush Street in Zolochiv, under the guise of a residential building, as indicated in the documents, Muscovites illegally intend to build a temple. THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN!”

At the same time, the information about the temple of the UOC being built in Zolochiv is wrong, said the secretary of the Lviv Eparchy of the UOC.

According to him, about a year ago, the clergyman of the eparchy, Father Maxim Yoenko, bought a half-house in this city for himself and his family and is now doing repair works. There is no parish of the UOC in Zolochiv, but when a priest of the canonical Church settled there, Orthodox residents asked him to hold a prayer service for them. The priest held a moleben service with a liturgy once, in a building trailer in a private local area.

As reported by the UOJ, the Uniates opposed the construction of the UOC church in Zolochiv: “Where are the SBU and intelligence?”

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