Metropolitan Anthony gives the number of seized churches of UOC

Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary. Photo: glavcom.ua

The UOC Сhancellor, Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary, called the information about the “transfer” of 600 communities to the OCU a manipulation and said that only 84 communities voluntarily left the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

As Metropolitan Anthony said in an interview with “Glavkom”, 28 out of 84 communities shifted to the OCU without a rector, 56 with a rector, and another 122 churches were seized by OCU representatives through raiding. In addition, 220 communities were illegally re-registered to the OCU by the local authorities.

“We did not expect that this could be in a democratic state,” the bishop noted. “There are secret re-registrations when a UOC parish does not know anything while local authorities re-register communities. And there are 220 such parishes.”

The UOC Chancellor said that the Legal Department of the Church is currently operating a hotline, which daily receives updated information from all parishes of the UOC.

“I am talking about real data that we operate. 220 is an illegal re-registration, and in most of them, we have litigation. We believe that there has been a violation of both the Constitution and the legislation of Ukraine,” the hierarch emphasized.

As reported earlier, in connection with the violation of the rights of believers of the UOC in 2019, 150 trials took place and 250 court proceedings were initiated.

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