OCU gets church construction permit in Ivano-Frankivsk despite protests
An OCU community in Ivano-Frankivsk has received permission to build a church near the city lake despite residents' efforts to preserve the recreational area.
Ukraine's State Inspectorate for Architecture and Urban Planning has issued a permit to an Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) community to build the Cathedral of All Saints of Galicia near the city lake in Ivano-Frankivsk, Zaxid.net reports.
The permit authorizes the construction of a church up to 21 meters tall on a 0.07-hectare plot next to the tennis courts. Designed to accommodate 120 worshippers, the building will include an open gallery, narthex, nave, sanctuary, sacristy, and altar servers' room. The general contractor will be the Halytskyi Dvir construction company.
Ivano-Frankivsk city authorities, led by Mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv, approved the planning conditions for the OCU project back in October 2023.
A Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) community had also planned to build a church in the same recreational area. However, the proposed construction projects sparked widespread protests among residents who wanted to preserve the green space along the lake.
Within 24 hours, residents collected more than 600 signatures on a petition opposing the development. Under public pressure, the mayor reached an agreement with the Greek Catholics, and the UGCC abandoned its plans to build near the lake in exchange for another plot of land.
Despite residents' objections, the OCU has now received official authorization to proceed with construction.
As the UOJ previously reported, an OCU eparchy sold land to a construction company instead of building a church center on the site.
