Yelensky: Church seizure is a matter for the local, not central, government
Head of the DESS Viktor Yelensky. Photo: korrespondent.net
The American Conservative published an article titled "Ukraine's Two Wars", authored by independent journalist Flavius Mihăies, about the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) by the Ukrainian authorities. During his investigation, the journalist spoke with Viktor Yelensky, Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Affairs and Freedom of Conscience (DESS).
Flavius Mihăies expressed his concern to Viktor Yelensky over church properties being forcibly transferred from the UOC to the OCU.
"This is a matter for the local government," Yelensky explained to me in his office in Kyiv. "The central government was not involved," the journalist quotes the official in the article.
As previously reported by the UOJ, the American media published an article on the persecution of the UOC by the authorities.
Read also
U.S. bishops call for Church unity on Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy
The Assembly of Bishops of the USA has issued an encyclical for the Triumph of Orthodoxy on Church unity, veneration of icons, and support for pan-Orthodox ministry.
OCU organizes harassment of businessman for aiding UOC
Hryshchuk called for boycotting the business of the entrepreneur who built a UOC church in the Rivne region.
Head of Lavra Reserve: I believe UOC monks will move to the OCU
Ostapenko said there are 140 UOC monks and novices on the territory of the Lower Lavra.
"Shield of Judah": Biblical name given to operations against Iran
A joint Israeli–US military operation against Iran has received a code name referencing the biblical forefather of the Jewish royal line.
In Syria, Islamic militants behead statues of Christ and Virgin Mary
Vandals beheaded statues of the Lord and the Mother of God at the entrance to the "Cave of the Virgin Mary" in the village of Al-Basiya near the coastal city of Banias in Syria.
Icon with particle of Gabriel Urgebadze's relics to be brought to Uzhhorod from Georgia
The holy icon, painted in Georgia, will be brought to the Holy Trinity Church of the Mukachevo Eparchy of the UOC.