Rector of UOC church in Sutkivtsi: OCU resort to lies and slander

The Intercession Church-fortress in the village of Sutkivtsi

In the OCU, where they declared the "legality" of the re-registration of the religious community in Sutkivtsi, "everything is based on lies and slander", said Archpriest Vladimir Stepanishin, the rector of the Holy IIntercession Church of the UOC in vlg. Sutkivtsi of the Yarmolyntsi district, Khmelnytskyi region, in a comment to the UOJ.

The clergyman noted that the situation in the village is stable and the community continues to serve in its church, although "people are all alarmed" by the information about the results of the Supreme Court, which is "fueled" by the supporters of the OCU.

As Fr Vladimir explained, “we were not in litigation with our opponents from the OCU, but with the regional state administration. We only wanted to register our new charter, but the Regional State Administration did not want to do this. There are many such situations now. "

He stressed that the religious community – and this is 300 people – remains in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which the believers have previously unanimously testified to, and its old charter, adopted in 2017, is "completely legal".

As for the decision of the Supreme Court, the OCU “simply made a mountain out of a molehill”, spreading information that has not been confirmed yet”.

“There was a lot of panic and hype, local television arrived. They slander that it was me who made the conflict in the village, they say, I collected signatures and deceived everyone. All they say is based on lies and slander.”

There are only a few people in the village who consider themselves a "community". Now there are even fewer of them – 10–20 people. They registered at our address, this is illegal, I saw their statute - the address is written by hand. They do not have all the necessary documents, they only show their statute and the order of the Regional State Administration. They are disturbing the village, they say, they have officially transferred ... There is nothing official yet. They did everything illegally, with violations, and they believe that this is their temple,” resumed the rector.

Earlier, the OCU reported that on April 6, 2021, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of Ukraine rejected the claim of the religious community of the UOC in the village of Sutkivtsi and recognized its re-registration with the OCU as legal.

The legal department of the UOC urged not to rush with statements and conclusions since the court decision has not been published, and the reasons and motives for which the court refused to satisfy the claim of the religious community of the UOC are not yet known.

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