Uniates threaten to seize another church of UOC, – Statement of UOC in connection with the events in Kolomyia

In addition to attempts to seize the Annunciation Church of the UOC, threats are being made by the UGCC to take over another temple in Kolomyia – the Holy Dormition Cathedral, says the statement of the DECR of the UOC in connection with the events around the Annunciation Church of the UOC in Kolomyia, Ivano-Frankivsk region.

"There are threats against the rector of the cathedral Archpriest Nicholai Smetaniuk. Believers of our Church are intimidated, slander, threats of reprisal, including those made by Uniate chaplains, one of whom is Father Michael Arsenich. Leaflets with false information and appeals against our Church are distributed among the inhabitants of the town of Kolomyia.

Despite the peace-loving stance declared in the official statement of the Kolomyia-Chernivtsi diocese of the UGCC and assurances that "these events did not occur on its initiative", the diocese does not explain the participation in this conflict of the priests of the UGCC who provoke and call for the seizure of the church of the UOC religious community.

We also consider inappropriate and untimely calls to restore historical justice, which, according to the content of the statement, consists in the fact that the community of the UOC should return the temple, once allegedly belonging to the UGCC. In this approach, we see the danger of further interfaith confrontation on the grounds of restoring historical justice.

For example, the St. Nicholas Church in Kiev on Askold's grave, as well as the church of St. Nicholas the Good in the Podol and other historical churches, which are now used by Greek Catholic communities, were once built as Orthodox and historically belonged to the Orthodox Church. In particular, in the church of St. Nicholas the Good in the Podol, a well-known Orthodox theologian archpriest Alexander Glagolev (1872-1937) ministered.

We are sure that such an approach will not bring peace and stability in inter-confessional relations. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church stands on the positions of the inter-faith peace and the prevention of any religious confrontation.

In addition, as is known, in the town of Kolomyia, the UGCC has about 20 temples, while the UOC – only 2. Therefore, the attempt to seize the Annunciation Church is hardly due to the lack of prayer premises for the UGCC believers.

After watching the video from the conflict site, we state that the Uniate priests who arrived at the Annunciation Church to persuade the UOC community to change their confessional affiliation resorted to completely hostile rhetoric and outright harassment of their fellow citizens for their confessional affiliation.

We are convinced that such actions of the Greek Catholic clergy do not correspond to the general direction of Orthodox-Catholic relations. After all, according to the Havana Declaration, "Orthodox and Greek Catholics need to reconcile and find mutually acceptable forms of cohabitation" (Havana Declaration, paragraph 25), " reads the Statement.

The UOC called upon the UGCC leadership, as well as authorities of the Kolomyia-Chernivtsi diocese, "calmly and deliberately, in the spirit of Christian love and respect for the religious beliefs of others, with full responsibility" to approach this issue.

As reported by the UOJ, the Kolomyia-Chernivtsi diocese of the UGCC stated that it does not intend to abandon the historical church of the UGCC in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Mother of God in Kolomyia in favor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.