OCU legal entity registered on land belonging to UOC cathedral in Ternopil

UOC Cathedral in Ternopil. Photo: ternopil.cx

A conflict over land belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) continues in Ternopil. Despite an ongoing court injunction on the land surrounding the Cathedral of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and their mother Sophia, the city council has allocated part of the property to a newly established OCU community, reports ternopil.cx.

The Ternopil Diocese of the UOC has legally used the 0.5484-hectare plot on 1 Konovalets Street for over 15 years. However, local authorities, citing dubious reasons, attempted through the courts to strip the community of its land rights.

To prevent the seizure of the land where the cathedral is located, the diocese secured a court ruling from the Commercial Court to freeze the property and prohibit any actions concerning it. Nevertheless, the city council bypassed the law and allocated part of the territory to a newly established OCU religious organization with an identical name.

This OCU community was specifically created in June 2023 and is led by a certain Andriy Koval, who is also a founder of another OCU structure in the city. According to Koval, the community was "founded by the public."

Currently, UOC services continue to be held in the cathedral without obstruction. However, how the authorities and the OCU will act in the future remains uncertain.

“The doors of our church are always open to the people. We continue to pray for Ukraine and to fight. We believe that everything will be fine,” said Archpriest Stefan Balan, press secretary of the Ternopil Diocese of the UOC.

The diocese plans to defend its legal rights in court. The Ternopil Diocese of the UOC has filed an appeal against the actions of the city council.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that prior to the seizure of the UOC Cathedral in Cherkasy, authorities registered a "dead" religious community within it and "transferred" it to the OCU.

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