Brave female UOC believers thwart OCU from raiding their church
Attempted seizure of the St. Nicholas Church of the UOC in the village of Zapadnytsi on April 6, 2024. Photo: UOJ collage
On April 6, 2024, an attempt was made to seize the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Zapadnytsi in the Khmelnytskyi district of the Khmelnytskyi region. Brave parishioners were able to confront local activists led by the village elder Valentyna Konstantyn, a cleric of the OCU, and individuals in military attire. Video footage from the scene was published in the Khmelnytskyi Eparchy's Telegram channel.
The attempt to seize the church was made in the presence of the police.
"There is the police," the cleric of the OCU pointed out to the law enforcement officers, attempting to enter the Orthodox sanctuary.
"Let there be police, step over me and you can enter. Wipe your feet on me, cut me, I will not leave from here," replied the women.
Despite insults and threats, courageous believers remained by their church and did not allow the intruders to break into it, kneeling in front of its door.
"May you burn in hell, you scumbags!" exclaimed a man in military attire. "If it were up to me, I would have incarcerated all of you in your old age."
Earlier, on November 7, 2023, the Krasyliv City Council posted a message online about the alleged transition of a religious community to the OCU. The Khmelnytskyi Eparchy denied this information, stating that no decisions regarding changes in affiliation had been made by the canonical Orthodox community in matters of faith and organization.
As reported by the UOJ, the Khmelnytskyi Eparchy of the UOC refuted information about the "transition" of 300 communities to the OCU.
Read also
Zelensky tells Patriarch Bartholomew about power outage problems
The president spoke about humanitarian difficulties in Ukraine related to the energy situation.
Pat Daniel awards Pat Bartholomew with order for overcoming schism in BOC
The award was bestowed for organizing the 1998 Council, which conciliar-ly resolved the crisis caused by the schism in the Bulgarian Church.
Persecuted UOC parish in Chernivtsi celebrates its feast day
A festive divine service in honor of St. Spyridon of Trimythous was held in a parish that remains faithful to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church despite attempts to seize the church.
Bulgarian Church Primate arrives in Istanbul
The first official visit of Patriarch Daniel to the Phanar has begun.
Political expert: Declaring January 7 as Programmer’s Day resembles mockery
Kostiantyn Bondarenko commented on President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to designate a new professional holiday on the day when Christmas is celebrated.
Cherkasy court accuses Metropolitan Theodosiy of “improper sermon”
At another court hearing in the case of Metropolitan Theodosiy, an expert attempted to argue that there had been no violent seizure of the monastery in Cherkasy and that the alleged crime was committed by the Cherkasy hierarch through an “improper” sermon.