“Don't escalate the situation," Kamin-Kashyrskyi believers appeal to govt

The Nativity of the Mother of God Church in Kamin-Kashyrskyi. Photo: yandex.ru

Parishioners and the rector of the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Kamin-Kashyrskyi made a statement regarding the illegal re-registration of their community in the OCU.

On the Facebook page, the priest Georgy Mikhailov explained that the community officially declared last autumn that it remained within the fold of the UOC.

The priest explained that the "question of transfer" arose in 2021 at the initiative of a few active parishioners. However, during the assembly, the community almost unanimously decided not to change jurisdiction.

Unfortunately, the priest said, this did not stop the activists, and they continued their attempts to "transfer" the church to the OCU. For this purpose, they collected signatures on the streets of the town from ordinary passersby, many of whom had no connection to the church or rarely attended it.

"Yes, these people are members of the territorial community, but not the religious one. They initiated and organised a new meeting of the religious community, which once again affirmed its faithfulness to the UOC," the priest emphasized.

According to him, the main initiator of all these "gatherings," a certain Dregel, has not been a parishioner for about four years and does not participate in the life of the community. Therefore, he has no right to convene the community or submit any questions for its consideration.

On September 4th, it was discovered that the religious community had been transferred to the OCU, which caused open bewilderment among the believers. According to them, the parish has around 600 people, many of whom have been parishioners of the church all their lives.

"Many of the close relatives – husbands, sons, brothers, fathers – are currently at war, and among the parishioners, there are also servicemen. They have repeatedly requested not to escalate the situation and to resolve the issue peacefully," the priest said.

He also explained that the parishioners have no claims against those who defected to the OCU but ask them to leave them in peace and organise their own parish and parish life separately from them.

"We firmly stand by our decision and remain members of the UOC under the leadership of His Beatitude Onuphry," the priest said on behalf of the community and asked all government officials to protect their constitutional right to freedom of religion.

He mentioned that the community has a fixed list of parishioners and stressed that for a "transfer" to take place, it would require the people on that list to vote for a change of jurisdiction.

"But the deputy head of the military administration issued an order to transfer, and now people are asking for the cancellation of these illegal orders," he said.

The parishioners have been supporting the military since 2014 and are active volunteers who have visited the combat zone many times. Soldiers, parishioners of the church, and their relatives have repeatedly thanked them for their prayers, which have saved them in dire situations. The parish actively collects essential items such as food, medicine, and hygiene products, and Fr Georgy often personally delivers these supplies.

In light of everything that has been happening, the community has already appealed to the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, the National Police of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, the OSCE Conflict Prevention Center, and the European Union Representation in Ukraine, both electronically and in writing.

The community only asks for the legality and the observance of their rights: "We do not want war, we do not want to be enemies with our fellow villagers and city neighbours. We want to live in peace, harmony, and love, and continue to pray for peace, calm, and for all our soldiers for everything to be peaceful and victory to come soon."

"We hope that we will be heard, that the law should prevail and that all legal norms will be followed, not only by us, as required of us, but also concerning us," the statement concludes.

As earlier reported, the community in Kamin-Kashyrskyi was transferred to the OCU while the rector was away on the front lines.

Read also