St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Kyiv finally handed over to Catholic parish

St. Nicholas Church in Kyiv. Photo: wikimedia.org

St. Nicholas Church in Kyiv has officially been transferred to the Roman Catholic parish for free use for a period of 50 years as of early January 2026. The first step toward the final handover was insuring the church – a measure the community says had been lacking for a long time, umoloda.kyiv.ua reports.

The parish community emphasizes that an active insurance policy is not a mere formality – it is proof of responsibility and a basic layer of protection for the landmark.

Work has also begun on formalizing a protection agreement for the church as an object of cultural heritage. According to parishioners, during the period when the building was used by the House of Music, no such agreement was concluded – and the parish calls the launch of this procedure a step toward legally sound protection, upkeep, and restoration of the shrine.

At the same time, the community is re-registering utility agreements into direct contracts for the church itself, so that funds can be directed toward restoration and so that full heating can be ensured going forward – a critically important condition for preserving the building and holding services.

According to the parish, a DTEK commission that worked at the site recorded in an official report that, by the time of the handover, the electricity meters were three years past their service life, while the condition of the electrical network and a number of other infrastructure elements was assessed as крайне unsatisfactory.

Against the backdrop of the consequences of the 2021 fire and damage from an impact at the end of 2024, the community says there is a large volume of urgent work that must be carried out to save and restore the shrine.

As the UOJ previously reported, DESS called the return of St. Nicholas Church to the Roman Catholic Church a restoration of justice.

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