Bohorodchany district administration wants to take away the temple from UOC community

On August 21, a commission of representatives of the local authorities arrived Sts. Peter and Paul’s Church of Bohorodchany to formalize the transfer of the church of the UOC in connection with the decision of the district administration that refused the UOC community to extend the agreement for the use of the the place of worship, reports the website of the Ivano-Frankovsk diocese.

Representatives of the UOC community refused to transfer the religious building and sign a transfer-acceptance act, and also noted that the order of the Bohorodchany District State Administration № 140 violated their rights and freedoms, and therefore the contentious legal relations should be decided according to the laws of Ukraine.

The commission in its turn confirmed the fact of the refusal of the transfer of the place of worship and supported the community's proposal to decide the fate of the temple within the framework of the current legislation.

On August 9, the Bogorodchany DSA sent a letter to the religious community of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, in which it was noted that a commission had been established to accept and transfer the religious building.

On May 5, 2017, the chairman of the Bogorodchany DSA Yezhak F.F. issued Order № 140 "On the denunciation of the agreement for rent-free use of the religious building" to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul’s religious community of the UOC of Bohorodchany. The document states that the Bohorodchany DSA renounces the agreement for the use of the religious building (Sts. Peter and Paul’ Church), which was concluded on November 15, 1991. What exactly was the reason for the refusal is not indicated.

In his order, Yezhak F.F. refers to the decision of the Bohorodchany District Council № 207-12 / 2017 of 28.04.2017 "On the renunciation of the agreement for rent-free use of the religious building", as well as to the request of the Bohorodchany village council of November 30, 16, No. 789. The Protocol states that the "meeting of citizens of the village of Bohorodchany" was attended by 80 people, with about 8,000 residents living in the village.