Court rejects MinCult’s request to delay transfer of RCC church to community
St. Nicholas Church in Kyiv. Photo: Community of the Roman Catholic Parish of St. Nicholas in Kyiv
On 12 November 2025, the Roman Catholic parish of St. Nicholas in Kyiv announced on its official Facebook page that the Dniprovskyi District Administrative Court had rejected the request of Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture to postpone the transfer of St. Nicholas Church to the religious community.
According to the parish, on 28 October the Ministry submitted a request asking the court to delay the enforcement of the ruling. The court not only denied the motion but also placed the enforcement process under judicial oversight. The Ministry must now provide a report on the status of its compliance.
The parish reminds that the state’s obligation to transfer the church to the Catholic community dates back to 2005. In January 2025 the court reaffirmed this requirement, but enforcement proceedings were never opened, effectively blocking the transfer process.
Fr. Paweł Wyszkowski, the rector of the parish, told OMI that the delay is political in nature and linked to interference from certain officials. He stressed that the community would not allow abuses surrounding the church and insists on full implementation of the court’s decision.
St. Nicholas Church is one of Kyiv’s most prominent architectural landmarks. In recent years, the building sustained damage from the 2021 fire and from a Russian missile strike in December 2024. The Ministry of Culture previously stated that restoration would follow the original 19th-century architectural plans.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that the court had denied DESS’s request for injunctive relief in the case concerning the liquidation of the Korets Convent.
Read also
OCU cleric's church preference poll delivers unexpected results
When an OCU cleric from Rivne asked Ukrainians which Church they preferred, most Threads users who responded chose the UOC.
Reports to SBU of weapons in UOC churches were always false, Novynskyi says
The protodeacon said that under Maliuk, inspections began to be accompanied by public accusations against the Church without evidence.
Culture Ministry pledges to speed up seizure of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra from UOC
Culture Minister Tetiana Berezhna has pledged to personally attend a court hearing in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra case.
Kamianske Eparchy honors Dnipro Icon of the Mother of God for first time
A festive service was held at a cathedral in Kamianske, where the Dnipro Icon of the Mother of God was brought out for veneration by the faithful for the first time.
Kyiv conscription officers abduct UOC priest
TRC officers reportedly abducted Maksym Kostiuchenko, a cleric of a UOC church in the Ukrainian capital.
Court grants DESS lawsuit to dissolve UOC’s Rovenky Eparchy
The appeals court partially granted the DESS lawsuit seeking to dissolve the Rovenky Eparchy but rejected the request to seize its property, citing a gap in Ukrainian legislation.