Bishop of OCCLS who concelebrated with Dumenko seizes parish in Brno

Bishop Isaiah of Šumperk (left). Photo: pomisna.info

The parishioners of the Church of the Holy Martyr Wenceslaus in the city of Brno (the Czech Republic) announced the forcible seizure of their parish by the pro-Phanar Bishop Isaiah of Šumperk.

“On August 25, 2021, we were informed that, due to the change in the new status (Bishop Isaiah), the Olomouc-Brno Diocese had to accept the church and change the locks. Our spiritual fathers received this message by e-mail at a time when the violent seizure of our Orthodox church was already taking place,” reads a message on the website of the Brno religious community.

The seizure was carried out personally by Bishop Isaiah with several clergymen and employees of the diocese. Archpriest Joseph Feisak, who previously headed the community of the Holy Martyr Wenceslaus in Brno but was removed by the bishop, was forbidden to enter the church.

The parishioners of the seized temple emphasized that they would never leave their beloved church, even it was illegally closed for them, and would not renounce the spiritual heritage of their ancestors and the results of their own labours.

As reported, the Czech hierarch Isaiah (Slaninka), the vicar bishop of the Olomouc-Brno Diocese, was ordained in 2015 during the crisis in the OCCLS. The Phanar then attempted to create an alternative synod in the OCCLS. This hierarch promotes the Phanar’s interests in the Czech Republic and concelebrated with Dumenko in 2019, despite the ban of the Primate of the OCCLS.

The UOJ wrote that Bishop Isaiah attempted to seize the parish in Brno and was illegally using the property of the Prague Diocese of the OCCLS.

Read also