In Bucha, OCU to close temple seized from UOC due to rental debts

People unrelated to the parish are voting on the square in Bucha for the transition of the UOC community to the OCU. August 2023. Photo: Bucha City Council

The OCU has faced difficulties in maintaining churches seized from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the Kyiv region. UOC Deacon Andriy Hlushchenko, analyzing the personnel crisis of Dumenko's structure, told about the fate of one of the churches in Bucha, which was taken away from the UOC community and eventually found itself on the verge of closure due to debts.

According to him, the situation clearly demonstrates a systemic problem of the structure, which massively seizes churches but does not have clergy for their full-fledged maintenance.

The clergyman drew attention to the official statistics of the Volyn OCU: over seven years, 139 churches were "transferred" to its jurisdiction, while only 19 UOC priests joined the OCU. Thus, only about 14% of the seized parishes received clerics. Under such conditions, Deacon Andriy noted, the OCU either has to ordain random people or leave churches practically empty.

As an example, he cited the parish in Bucha, which in 2023 was "transferred" to the OCU by a decision of a raider assembly of people who had no relation to the religious community. The UOC rector was forced to leave, and the OCU never appointed a new priest. A person who remained in the seized temple is one who only sold candles, accepted notes and donations.

At the same time, as the deacon emphasized, the organizers of the seizure did not take into account the legal aspect: the church building belonged to a large state company and was rented by the UOC community. Despite the change of "jurisdiction" on paper, the lease agreement continued to be in effect, and the monthly payment was 9 thousand hryvnias. Over almost three years, the "OCU community" accumulated significant debt that they were unable to pay off.

According to the clergyman, the outcome of this story will be the liquidation of the formally existing "OCU religious community" and the return of the premises to the owner, who will most likely use it no longer as a church.

As the UOJ wrote, earlier the Bucha authorities discussed with the OCU "clergy" the destruction of the UOC in the town.

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