In Volyn Priest with Children Evicted from the House
Volyn has its own laws. Uhryniv village council considers that a priest with his children is being evicted from the house legally.
The superior priest of Uhryniv church (Volyn), seized by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church(KP) last September, archpriest Rostislav Sapozhnik with his wife and two minor children are going to be evicted from their house. The family are registered here and have been living for over 17 years. Besides, it is here, after the seizure of Uhryniv church by followers of the UOC (Kyiv Patriarchate), he is ministering the service for the UOC community.
Father Rostislav says that on Saturday, May 23, representatives of the local village council and land surveyors came into his yard, and without any explanation began to measure the area. It is reported on the official website of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, citing local media. The uninvited guests gave the priest a week to move out. According to him, bypassing all legal norms, followers of Kyiv Patriarchate, led by the deputy of Volyn Regional Council, a local entrepreneur Andrew Turak, want to take his house. As it strangely turned out, the land and the building itself have been taken over by the so-called UOC-KP.
The Orthodox community of the village stood up for their superior priest and on May 24 sent a letter to the head of Uhryniv village council, demanding fair treatment for believers of different confessions. The head of the village council was reminded of the seizure of the local church last September. The church-goers say that "as they can’t satisfy their religious needs in the church, they go to the priest's house". So it would be most appropriate in this situation to "leave alone the priest and their house of prayer".
The answer of the head of Uhryniv village council surprised the community. He reported that had no information about the seizure of the church and wasn’t going to interfere into the matter. He added that the fact that the priest and his family have been registered in the church building for 17 years won’t save him from eviction.
In this difficult situation unindifferent people have decided to lend a helpful hand to Father Rostislav. They post a message in the social network Facebook with a call for "faithful Orthodox Church members, as well as caring and kind-hearted people to support the family of priest Rostislav Sapozhnik from Uhryniv village, Volyn region". According to volunteers, the UOC clergyman needs money for basic need to feed the family and to purchase things, necessary for the worship, in particular, a small candleholder, an alter cross and liturgical garments.
Number of Father Rostislav’s card - Privatbank 5169 3305 0198 0103
Mobile number - +38 (095) 808-21-25
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