In Peches’ke, activists of OCU push out the rector and seize the church

Holy Protection Church of the UOC in Peches'ke

On January 27, 2024, after the service at the Holy Protection Church in the village of Peche'ske in the Khmelnytskyi region, activists of the OCU led by "dean" Mykola Khomyak, with the police standing idly by, seized the church, according to the press service of the Khmelnytskyi Diocese.

As reported by the diocese, raiders pushed out the rector of the church, Archpriest Mykhailo Furman, and the dean of the Krasyliv district, Archpriest Vitaliy Dunts.

The formal reason for the seizure was an illegal gathering of unknown individuals held on October 27, 2023, to transfer the church community to the OCU.

The UOC press service points out that the meeting was held by 30-40 people unrelated to the religious community, while the lists submitted to the Khmelnytskyi Regional State Administration indicated 250 parishioners of the UOC religious community.

"The actual members of the religious community did not change their subordination in organizational and canonical matters and remain in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (the governing center is Kyiv)," the diocese wrote.

They also noted that, according to current information from the Unified State Register, the Intercession parish remains in the UOC, and the acting leader of the religious community is still Archpriest Mykhailo Furman (an extract from the Unified State Register is attached).

"There are no legal grounds for evicting the religious community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Holy Protection Church. Therefore, the believers of the Holy Protection parish will appeal to state and international legal institutions to protect their rights," the diocese stated.

The Holy Protection Church in Peches'ke was built in 2006 with the funds of the patron Yuriy Hetmanenko. It was consecrated by Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) of Kyiv.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that in October 2023, the Khmelnytskyi Diocese of the UOC refuted the fake news about the "transition" to the OCU of five parishes, including the Holy Protection Church in the village of Peches'ke.

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