Court rules the seizure of Krasyliv UOC church by OCU supporters was legal

St. Resurrection Church. Photo: Raskolam.net

The Khmelnytskyi Court of Appeal upheld a decision legalizing the re-registration and transfer of St. Resurrection Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in Krasyliv, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), as reported on the court's Facebook page. The court ruled that the priest must leave the building and not obstruct its transfer to the new owners, according to the official court page on Facebook.

"The former leader of the religious community is obliged not to prevent access to the church, vacate it, and provide free access to it. These demands were made by the religious organization 'Religious Community of St. Resurrection Church of Krasyliv, Khmelnytskyi District, Khmelnytskyi Eparchy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine,'" the court's decision states. The religious community claimed that the church belongs to them as private property.

The UOC community contested the authenticity of these documents in court, but the court ruled otherwise. Earlier, UOC believers tried to defend their church and prevented the inventory of church property, but now, according to the court's decision, they will be required to allow it.

It should be noted that since the summer of 2023, St. Resurrection Church of the UOC in Krasyliv has been under pressure from OCU supporters. Previously, they held a territorial community meeting where they announced the "transfer" of the church from the UOC to the OCU.

As the UOJ reported, Father Petro Koval, the priest of the Church of the Nativity of Christ in Krasyliv, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, recounted how activists who attempted to seize the church planned their actions and how they gained access to the UOC parishioners' sanctity.

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