OCU and UGCC chaplains seize Sts. Boris and Gleb Church in Vyshhorod

Invaders in Sts. Boris and Gleb Church of the UOC in Vyshhorod. Photo: Facebook page "Zhytia mista Vyshhorod"

On September 6, 2023, “clergy” of the OCU and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church seized the Boris and Gleb Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Vyshhorod, the parish community reported on its Facebook page.

In a video published by the community, the raiders can be seen forcing open the church doors with a crowbar and hydraulic cutters.

The footage shows OCU “priest” Vasyl Lilo, who previously seized the St Michael’s Church in Boyarka, UGCC chaplain Mykola Medynskyi, as well as OCU “theologian” Vitalii Klos, who presents himself as the “rector” of the Boris and Gleb Church.

One of the chaplains, wearing a patch that read “batiushka,” entered the altar and removed the antimins from the Holy Table. He unfolded it in front of everyone and declared that he had taken the sacred object “so that there would be no talk that this is a Ukrainian Church (the UOC – Ed.).”

“I have taken this sin upon myself, because the Moscow Church is hiding,” the man said, before reading aloud whose signature was on the antimins – “the Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Rus’.”

When parishioners asked who had given him the right to seize the church and steal the antimins, he replied that this right had been granted to him by “the children of the Ukrainian people.”

“For 300 years you oppressed my people,” he said to one of the women.

“Now we, the real religious community, cannot enter our own church. Our priests are not allowed into the church, and we are forbidden to conduct divine services. As the lawful owners of our church, we cannot gain access to it even when presenting property ownership documents to law enforcement agencies,” the UOC parish stated on Facebook.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that an OCU cleric seized a church in Boyarka immediately after a visit to Mount Athos.

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