Believers of UOC hold a prayer standing at Khotyn mayor's office

On February 7, 2022, the clergy and believers of the Khotyn deanery of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna diocese held a prayer standing at the walls of the Khotyn city council of the Chernivtsi region, during which they demanded that the authorities extend the lease agreement for the church in honor of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky, which was closed by the leadership of the state reserve "Khotyn Fortress” and is going to be transferred to the use of the OCU at the request of the activists. The video of the prayer standing was posted on the Facebook page of the UOC diocese.

It is noted that the Alexander Nevsky community restored the temple on the territory of the reserve on its own. The temple was transferred to the use of the UOC in the 1990s in a dilapidated state.

Miter Archpriest Anatoly Mandriuk, the dean of the Khotyn district,  Archpriest Pavel Korytnik, the rector of the church in honor of St. Alexander Nevsky, and the clergy of the Khotyn deanery were present at the prayer standing along with the faithful.

Previously, the Miriane asked the Minister of Culture of Ukraine to help return the Khotyn church of the UOC by extending the term of the agreement on the use of the church in honor of St. Alexander Nevsky.

The initiative to break the agreement with the UOC community came from OCU activists who put pressure on the leadership of the Khotyn Fortress Reserve in order to transfer the church to the schismatics.

As the UOJ reported, the parishioners of the UOC Khotyn declared their determiantion to defend their right to the temple from the encroachments of the OCU to the bitter end.

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