St. Andrew's Church in Cherkasy, seized from UOC, closed

Police guard the St. Andrew's Church of the UOC, closed by authorities. Photo: 18000

The St. Andrew's Church in Cherkasy, seized from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), was ordered to be "temporarily closed" by local authorities and the OCU (Orthodox Church of Ukraine), according to the local resource 18000.

The "metropolitan" of the OCU in Cherkasy, I. Yaremenko, explained to journalists that this was done to "prevent so-called prayer vigils" by UOC believers.

Additionally, Yaremenko claimed that the city is currently experiencing a "dangerous period."

"In particular, this concerns May 9, when Moscow churches will celebrate the victory of the USSR, while the civilized world will be commemorating the victory over Nazism in World War II," assured the "metropolitan."

It will be recalled that on May 6, police under the direction of the city's mayor, A. Bondarenko, expelled UOC parishioners and clergy from their church. Officials justified the action with documents citing the "transfer to the OCU" of a non-existent fictitious community that had never been associated with the church. In a conversation with the mayor, parishioners requested to see the people who had supposedly "transferred" to the OCU. Bondarenko refused to do so.

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