Community of St. Nicholas Church in Kyiv appeals to ombudsman

Representatives of the community of St. Nicholas Church in Kyiv with the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights. Photo: Parish Facebook page

On September 2, 2025, the parish of St. Nicholas turned to the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, protesting the Ministry’s refusal to comply with binding court rulings that ordered the return of the church to its rightful owners. The parish reported the appeal on its official Facebook page.

The case – No. 160/23751/24 – has already been heard by three courts: the Dnipropetrovsk District Administrative Court (January 24, 2025), the Third Administrative Court of Appeal (June 5, 2025), and finally the Supreme Court (July 23, 2025). Each court reaffirmed the same demand: the Ministry must implement the Presidential Decree of December 9, 2005, and hand over St. Nicholas Church to the Catholic community.

Bishop Vitaliy Kryvytskyi of the Kyiv-Zhytomyr diocese, parish rector Fr. Pavlo Vyshkovskyi OMI, and parish council members met personally with Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, handing him a collective petition. In it, they called for accountability and demanded that the state finally enforce its own laws.

“It has been over six months since the court ruling, and the Ministry has done nothing. This is a blatant violation of our constitutional right to judicial protection and undermines Ukraine’s credibility as a country of law,” Fr. Pavlo emphasized.

Bishop Kryvytskyi reminded the authorities that the Council of Europe has twice pressed Ukraine to return confiscated sacred buildings to believers – a condition tied directly to EU membership.

St. Nicholas Church, built by Catholics in 1909, was seized by the Soviet regime in 1938. Today, it remains under the control of the National House of Organ and Chamber Music, which, the parish notes, has made no effort to maintain or preserve the building.

“What is astonishing is that there is no money to save the church, but there is always money for court battles against the parish,” the community stated.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Supreme Court had already ordered the Ministry of Culture to transfer St. Nicholas Church back to the Roman Catholic Church.

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