Bishop of Rivne about regional council head: He threatens to destroy Church

Bishop Pimen of Rivne and Ostroh, commenting on the statement against the head of the Rivne Regional Council Serhiy Kondrachuk, which believers and priests made to the police, told journalists of the television company Rivne 1 that the official threatened the Church and attributed the ideology of the "Russian world" to it. 

"There are threats that he will destroy (the Church – Ed.), he calls us Moscals, and there are already direct threats that he will drive the last nail into the coffin of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church," Bishop Pimen said.

According to the UOC hierarch, mass seizures of churches are taking place in the villages and towns of the Rivne region, and inter-faith discord is being sown among the people at the instigation of the authorities.

"There were three or four full, voluntary transfers (to the OCU - Ed.). In all other parishes, there are people who are still worshipping with their priests. They have no opportunity to pray in the church, they pray in adapted buildings," said the Bishop.

As reported, the believers of the Rivne Eparchy filed a complaint with the police against the head of the local regional council who promises to liquidate the UOC in the region.

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