In Kremenets, OCU members seize temple and evict rector from church house

On July 21, 2022, in the village of Kremenets in Volyn, Dumenko’s supporters came to the church house where the rector of the Church of St Nicholas the Wonderworker of the UOC resides, demanding that the building be given to the "OCU community".

"They took over the temple a month ago. The local authorities held a gathering of believers, non-believers and Pentecostals, and got a majority of them to transfer to the OCU," the rector of the church, Archpriest Vasyl Dendak, told the UOJ.

On Holy Spirit Day, local OCU members and police officers came to the priest's house and took away the keys to the church, saying 'this is what the majority wants'. Then the congregation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Kremenets decided to hold services in the church house.

Father Vasyl has been serving at St. Nicholas’s Church for over 30 years, since its consecration. The construction of the church house, where the rector lives, has been completed at the priest’s expense.

When local government representatives and activists again came with the police to demand that the priest leave the house, they brought an extract from the state register.

"I don't understand how they got a document with the same registration number that is on the documents of our UOC community, all the same words, only instead of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church there is the OCU," the rector said.

The priest believes that the actions of the OCU supporters and the documents provided are illegal, so he and the community intend to go to court to protect their rights.

As reported, a case was launched against the head of the Rivne Regional Council following a complaint by the UOC clergy.

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