Kyiv City Council deputy: We aim to ensure no UOC communities in Kyiv region

Roman Tytykalo. Photo: Tytykalo’s Facebook page

Deputy of the Kyiv Regional Council from "European Solidarity" Roman Tytykalo told the publication "Kyivshchyna 24/7" that the regional council "has set itself the task of cleansing the Kyiv region of the UOC".

He knows that the DESS decision to liquidate the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC requires court approval, nevertheless he declares the necessity of "pushing" UOC communities to transition to the OCU.

"There is a problem: in case of a ban, the property passes to state ownership, and the question arises of who will perform services in these churches. That is precisely why, before the court decision is made, we see it expedient to push the community to transfer to the OCU to avoid legal uncertainty and not leave people without spiritual support," Tytykalo emphasized.

He also called for an inventory of the property of the active UOC communities. “This property, as a rule, is municipal property belonging to territorial communities. We recommended conducting an audit, identifying the assets, and taking steps to terminate the agreements and return the property,” the deputy noted.

At the same time, Tytykalo assures that the Regional Council is acting within the framework of the Constitution: “We are acting strictly within the Constitution and the laws of Ukraine — in the interests of national security, the rights of citizens, and the protection of Ukrainian statehood. The Kyiv region chooses spiritual independence and Ukrainian identity.”

According to him, the Regional State Administration provided "corresponding instructions" to local communities "with the aim of checking religious organizations subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate and forming a complete picture of each parish".

After collecting information, they plan to "work specifically" with each church.

At the same time, Tytykalo assures that “a transition specifically to the OCU is not mandatory — there are other denominations as well, including Orthodox ones.” He did not specify which denominations he was referring to. According to him, “the process must be systematic, consistent, and primarily aimed at fulfilling national security objectives.” Tytykalo reported that 407 UOC communities are currently operating in the Kyiv region. "Our task is to conduct a revision, find out how many of them actually remain, whether they are using churches that are municipally owned, and, on that basis, structure further work,” Tytykalo noted.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the Kyiv Regional Council called on authorities to facilitate the transition of UOC communities to the OCU.

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