UGCC monk in shorts expels women from church for indecent clothing

Abbot of the UGCC Monastery Ihnatiy Holynsky expels a woman from the church. Photo: galka.if.ua

On July 16, a resident of Yaremche posted a message with a video recording showing a man in shorts forcefully expelling two women from the St. Elijah Prophet Monastery of the UGCC in Yaremche, allegedly for their indecent appearance. According to the Ivano-Frankivsk media 'Galka', citing the message's author Valentyna Zaichyk, the women were expelled by the monastery's abbot Ihnatiy Holynsky.

Valentyna's mother and sister came to pray for her son and brother Yuriy Zaichyk, a soldier of the 68th Brigade, who went missing on July 7 in the Pokrovske direction. According to one of the women, the monastery's abbot, Father Ihnatiy Holynsky, said they were improperly dressed. "Get out of here. Leave the church," he said to them while pushing them out of the church.

"When you don't care how you look, when you're monitoring every message hoping it's about your brother, trying to find him... Church representatives are engaged in violence and sexism. Many believers may take sides, but I don't need division; I want church representatives to stop fighting... To be fair, does he look appropriate in church? In shorts and a t-shirt?" wrote Valentyna, posting the video and photos of the incident.

The Syncellus for Monastic Affairs of the Lviv Archeparchy of the UGCC, Hieromonk Justin Boyko, responded to the message and assured that he would investigate the conflict and apologized.

"Father Ihnatiy behaved very inappropriately. This must be acknowledged. Although he is indeed a good monk. If possible, accept my apologies on behalf of the monastery for this incident. I will personally do everything to ensure that this does not happen again, and that Fr. Ihnatiy apologizes to you," wrote Justin Boyko.

As reported by the UOJ, with the words "we need to fight, not build a church", a UGCC parish is expelling its priest.

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