OCU supporters in Hilcha demand St. Nicholas Church of UOC be given to them

On July 31, 2022, supporters of the OCU clashed with the UOC religious community on the grounds of the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Hilcha of the Zdolbuniv parish of the Rivne Eparchy, reports the eparchy’s press service.

According to witnesses, members of the newly created community of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine came to the church with an extract from the USR on their registration and demanded that the UOC faithful hand over to them the church in which they perform services. The parishioners met the schismatics outside the church after the Sunday service.

The initiator of the religious conflict in Hilcha is Kateryna Tyshkovets, a member of the Zdovbytsia united territorial community (UTC) from the "European Solidarity" party. According to local residents, Tyshkovets has already organized the seizure of a church in the neighbouring village of Urvenna.

Archpriest Vasyl Nachev, the press secretary of the Rivne Eparchy of the UOC and an eyewitness to the events, said that after the official spoke, he asked police officers who were on the church grounds to record the fact of inciting interfaith discord. "She (Tyshkovets – Ed.) called part of the community of the village of Hilcha traitors, despite the fact that the mothers of the defenders fighting at the front were standing there," the priest explained.

The four OCU "priests" who accompanied the schismatics suggested serving in the church one by one after a long aggressive discussion.

Archimandrite Herman (Kulakevich), the rector of the UOC St. Nicholas Church, responded by advising to first establish alternate services in the churches of Urvenna, Korshev, and Buderazh, which the OCU raiders forcefully took from the UOC religious communities two years ago.

"Our religious community held a meeting in the church as required by Ukrainian law and remained faithful to the canonical Church headed by Metropolitan Onuphry. You, on the other hand, without an announcement and without the invitation of the rector, i.e. me, held a meeting, which, according to the legislation of our country, is unauthorized, and came here with demands. Go to court, now let justice decide who the church should belong to. We will provide all necessary documents as proof that our religious community is the owner of the church," said the rector, Archimandrite Herman (Kulakevich).

The UOC faithful began serving a thanksgiving prayer of thanksgiving to end the dispute, and the schismatics retreated.

As reported, the community in Hilcha thwarted the OCU's provocation by reaffirming loyalty to the UOC at a meeting.

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