Bila Tserkva authorities attempting to seize monastery building from UOC

The UOC Convent of Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene in Bila Tserkva. Photo: nyblago.org

In Bila Tserkva, the legal dispute around the Convent of St. Mary Magdalene, Equal-to-the-Apostles. of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is underway. Despite previously issued court rulings in favor of the monastery, local authorities continue their attempts to have the monastic property transferred to communal ownership. 

As reported by the local outlet "Krokus," the convent had previously been able to defend its rights in court. The Commercial Court and the Northern Commercial Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the religious community. However, following an appeal by the Bila Tserkva City Council, the Commercial Court of Cassation sided with the authorities on the matter of terminating the right to use the land plot.

Following this, the City Council initiated new legal proceedings, now demanding that the privatization of the convent buildings be declared unlawful and that the property be returned to the ownership of the territorial community.

According to Bila Tserkva City Council Secretary Volodymyr Vovkotrub, the court of first instance has already ruled in favor of the city and ordered the religious community to return the property. The convent's representatives have filed an appeal, yet a final decision in the case has not yet been reached.

The matter concerns a complex of buildings of the St. Mary Magdalene Convent at 11 Shkilna Street, with a total area of approximately 3,000 square meters. It is around these premises that a legal dispute between the convent and the city authorities has been ongoing for several years.

Thus, despite previous court rulings that allowed the monastery to continue its activities, the authorities of Bila Tserkva continue to pursue the seizure of the convent's property from the UOC nuns. The final word in the case is to be delivered by the appellate and, possibly, cassation courts.

As the UOJ previously reported, false information had previously circulated on social media about alleged saboteurs supposedly discovered at the Convent of Saint Mary Magdalene, Equal-to-the-Apostles.

Read also