Taking under control: "Miriane" comments on church seizure in Verbovets

If the anti-church laws are not abolished, any temple of the UOC will be exposed to the church raiding threat, the “Miriane” union said.

The "Miriane" public union takes control of the situation due to the seizure of the Intercession temple of the UOC in the village of Verbovets, Vinnytsia region, and will provide the religious community with any legal and practical assistance in protecting violated rights, the press service of the public union reports.

The "Miriane" also reported that the seizure of the temple in Verbovets became possible as a result of the illegal decision of the Vinnytsia Regional State Administration, which, on the basis of the protocol of the meeting of the village community (and not the church community), illegally re-registered the religious community in favor of the OCU, so the “Miriane” will seek the abolition of anti-church laws, which enable such actions.

“We believe that such a path to the seizure of the UOC churches through the procedure of illegal change of subordination of religious organizations was provoked by the Law of Ukraine No. 2673-VIII" On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Concerning Subordination of Religious Organizations and the Procedure for State Registration of Religious Organizations with the Status of a Legal Entity" during the time of President Poroshenko on January 17, 2019. The "Miriane" aims to secure the abolition of the existing anti-church laws. The bills submitted by the "Miriane", which offer such changes to the legislation, were submitted to the MPs on June 15, 2021 and are pending registration in the parliament,” the organization said in a press release.

“If the discriminatory legal norms are not abolished, then any temple of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will be exposed to the threat of seizure by raiders who use existing laws to change the jurisdiction of religious communities on the basis of forged documents,” the organization added.

As the UOJ previously reported, an attempt was made to seize a church by OCU activists in the Mohyliv-Podilsky Eparchy of the UOC.

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