Authorities close temple seized by OCCLS bishop who served with Dumenko

Rector of the temple, Archpriest Joseph Feisak, locked himself in the room so that it would not be seized by the pro-Phanar hierarch. Photo: pravoslavbrno.cz

In the city of Brno (the Czech Republic), the parishioners of the church in honor of the St. Wenceslas Church of the OCChLS agreed to close their monastery and hand over the keys to the local authorities after the attempt of the pro-Phanar vicar bishop Isaiah (Slaninka) to change the locks, reports the website of the parish of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia in Brno.

On September 30, Bishop Isaiah and his supporters came to the church with the aim of changing the locks, but Archpriest Joseph Feisak, who heads the community of the Holy Martyr Wenceslas in Brno, locked himself in the building and did not allow this to be done. In connection with Isaiah's further attempts to get into the premises, the parishioners called the police, who, after negotiations, proposed to close the monastery and hand over the keys to the temple to a third party for safekeeping until the decision of the Holy Synod on the conflict.

“The keys to our church, which is temporarily closed, will be kept at the Brno-Stršed District Office until the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia decides on the right of the spiritual administrator of the PCO in Brno,” the parish website said. “Our church community has no choice but to hold services and pray again only in front of our church.” Parishioners note that they pray to the Lord for the protection of their believers and for the enlightenment of those who should dignifiedly govern the Church for the common good of believers.

As reported, the Czech hierarch Isaiah (Slaninka), 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 OCChLS. 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.

As reported, the OCChLS bishop, who co-served with Dumenko, seized the parish in Brno.

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