UOC community of vlg Pokhovka gets transferred to OCU against their will

The priest and believers of the UOC claimed that there was a violation of the church statute and left the assembly

On January 13, 2019, in the village of Pokhovka, the religious community of the UOC, in violation of the Statute of the Church and contrary to the opinion of the parishioners, was transferred to the OCU. Representatives of the Greek Catholic community, visitors and a small number of parishioners of the local church took part in the voting, some of whom did not attend the church at all. The video of how the “UOC church community” meetings were held in Pokhovka was published on one of the YouTube channels on January 16.

At the beginning of the gathering, the head of the village, Nikolay Ostapchuk, and the chairman of the meeting, Miroslav Anniuk, announced this event as a meeting of the UOC church community in order to transfer it to the “holy church of Ukraine” (OCU). The head of the rural church community was not notified of this.

Anniuk started the meeting, although, according to the law, the meetings of the religious community are convened and held by the Chairman of the Parish Council, which in Pohovka is Protopriest Vladimir Shuvar, rector of the Holy Annunciation temple. The priest and believers of the UOC claimed that a violation of the church charter was under way and left the assembly. Nevertheless, the remaining participants of the assembly, most of whom have no relation to the local Orthodox community of the UOC, voted for its transfer to the OCU.

At the end of the meeting, some of its participants threatened to pounce on the priest's car, hindering movement and trying to get inside for a search.

It is noted that the UOC community of the Holy Annunciation in the village of Pokhovka has existed for decades. The temple that has never closed is the property of the community.

As reported by the UOJ, the UOC temple in the village of Krymno of Volyn region is being transferred to the OCU by the decision of the village council. Simultaneously with the attempt to seize the temple, its rector and community were slandered in the media, which accused them of “a terrorist seizure of the village council”.

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