In Netishyn, the crowd seizes UOC Cathedral
Seizure of the cathedral in Netishyn. Photo: Pershy Kozatsky
On July 9, 2023, a crowd of activists seized the cathedral in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "The Burning Bush" in Netishyn, Khmelnytsky region, news.church.ua reports.
Raiders came to the Netishyn Cathedral during the Divine Liturgy. After the end of the service, the rector of the temple, Archpriest Viktor Tyshkun, and the clergy of the cathedral tried to establish a constructive dialogue with the activists, but the latter constantly shouted insulting slogans and mocked the Orthodox clergy and believers.
During the seizure of the shrine, the supporters of the OCU resorted to openly blasphemous actions, the activists shouted slogans "Get out", "Out". When the priests of the UOC and believers began to leave, they shouted after them "Away with the priest" and "Glory to God." In addition, aggressive activists in the temple shouted, clapped their hands and used physical force against the parishioners of the cathedral.
All this happened with the direct participation and assistance of the General Director of the Khmelnytsky NPP Andriy Koziura, local authorities and the so-called clerics of the OCU.
In addition, when the priests showed the activists the Ukrainian flag, which the military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine handed over from Bakhmut to the parishioners of the cathedral in gratitude for their prayerful and humanitarian support, the OCU cleric "archimandrite" Vladyslav stated that since this flag was signed by soldiers from Transcarpathia, it is "not Ukrainian, but Little Russian.”
The video shows that the police stood in a chain and pushed the priest and parishioners out of the temple.
Earlier, threats were made against the clerics of the cathedral and believers of the UOC by supporters of the OCU.
The Mayor of Netishyn Oleksandr Supruniuk congratulated on the “victory on the ideological front” and posted a photo of the UOC Archpriest Viktor Tyshkun leaving the cathedral with a package of books.
As the UOJ reported earlier, the community of the cathedral in Netishyn voted for loyalty to the UOC.
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