Signatures to 'transfer' UOC temples to OCU in Bukovyna collected deceitfully

Voting of the actual UOC community in the Chernivtsi Cathedral on February 16. Photo: Chernivtsi Eparchy

"Do you know how the OCU obtained 2,000 signatures to seize three UOC churches in Chernivtsi when only 250 people attended the rally?" – the Chernivtsi Diocese Telegram channel writes.

The diocesan press service received information from local business owners that from February 10 to 15, unknown individuals visited private shops claiming to conduct a sociological survey. They asked people to sign a form indicating whether they "support the UOC" or "support the OCU."

"Using this rather simple trick, reminiscent of Ostap Bender’s schemes, the OCU organizers deceived Chernivtsi residents into providing signatures for their subsequent dirty deeds. As a result, on February 16, the signatures from this 'sociological survey,' without the signers' consent, were turned into signatures of a fake religious community of the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the UOC in Chernivtsi," the statement said.

These signatures are now being used by the OCU for the illegal re-registration of the UOC Cathedral.

"If the OCU managed to gather only 2,000 signatures in a city with a population of 200,000, this is a real indicator of how Bukovinians perceive this new faith," the channel concluded.

As previously reported by the UOJ, the religious community of the UOC Cathedral in Chernivtsi reaffirmed its loyalty to the UOC.

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