Secretary of Rivne Eparchy: All UOC communities in Rivne region preserved

The secretary of the Rivne Eparchy of the UOC, Archpriest Viktor Zemlianyi. Photo: Fr. Viktor's Facebook page

The UOC eparchies in the Rivne region (Rivne and Sarny eparchies) have preserved the communities of all the temples seized by OCU supporters, and these communities have premises for divine services, said the secretary of the Rivne Eparchy of the UOC, Archpriest Viktor Zemlianyi, in an interview with the YouTube channel "Tetiana Tsaruk. In Search of Truth".

"Almost all the priests are in place,” noted Fr. Victor. “Somewhere for health reasons or because of a change of residence, rectors were changed, but all communities are active. This is a victory. Even there are churches taken away that we have returned. They are few – you can count them on the fingers of one hand - but this is the fact."

According to the priest, the raiders managed to seize relatively few churches in the Rivne region.

"Many churches, which according to documents were taken away, actually have been kept," added the eparchy’s secretary.

He expressed his belief that all the shrines taken away from the UOC would be returned.

"There will not be such a temple that would not return to the UOC. Whether it will be with us, whether we will see it with our own eyes, but we stand for it. Our Orthodox descendants will see it. It is impossible to defeat the Church," Father Viktor stressed.

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