Why seize others' churches if you are destroying your own?
The Intercession Church of the OCU in Zhytomyr. Photo: "Suspilne"
In the center of Zhytomyr, the unique Intercession Church, which has been under the jurisdiction of the OCU since 2015, is deteriorating. "Suspilne" made an a full report showing the terrible condition of this shrine, built in 1902: peeling walls, a collapsed floor, mold in the altar, etc.
In fact, in the 1990s, the state handed over the Kyiv-Pechersk and Pochaiv Lavras, as well as hundreds of other historical churches across the country, to the UOC in a similar condition. Literally within a year or two, the clergy and parishioners transformed these ruins into beautiful and well-maintained churches. And it is in such a state that the state is now taking them back.
But in the case of the Zhytomyr church, everything is different. It has been 10 years since it came under the jurisdiction of the OCU, but the condition of the shrine is simply shocking. "Archbishop" Volodymyr Shlapak complains that he asks the state for money for repairs, but the authorities somehow do not provide it (should they?). Since 2019, "services" have been held here, but for some reason, no one knows about them. Journalists asked passersby if they were aware that there is a church here – everyone said no. The shrine is needed by no one.
Meanwhile, the OCU is taking churches from the UOC. Recently, Shlapak became notorious for instructing raiders to break the fence and being the first to crawl through the resulting hole during the seizure in Potiivka.
In other words, Shlapak allows his own churches to fall into disrepair but takes others' churches.
Apparently, so that later he can complain that the authorities do not repair them.
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