UOC wins court against OCU for church house in Nova Moshchanytsia

Divine service of the UOC community in Nova Moshchanytsia. Photo: spzh.news

On July 21, 2020, the Rivne Court of Appeal considered the claim of the OCU community in the village of Nova Moshchanytsia of the Zdolbuniv district, Rivne region, on a church house, where the family of a UOC priest have been living for more than twenty years, and left the house in the ownership of the community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, reports a UOJ correspondent.

“When the OCU supporters seized our church a year ago, our community moved to pray in the church house where I live with my family,” comments Archpriest Igor Gnatishin, rector of the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin in the village of Nova Moshchanytsia. “Since then, the activists have not stopped and have been trying in various ways to kick me out of the house. The intimidation and threats did not work, then they went to courts."

The OCU community made its first attempt to abolish the ownership right of the UOC believers to the house back in January this year in the Zdolbuniv District Court. Commenting on the essence of the claim of the OCU, Raisa Prikhodko, a human rights defender of the Rivne Eparchy of the UOC, explained that the reason for the claim was the transfer of the UOC community to the OCU – a reason, in her opinion, senseless. The court dismissed the claim. Over time, not satisfied with the court’s response, the supporters of the OCU again filed an appeal, but it did not bring them the desired result.

“I believe that the decisions of both courts are legitimate since the rights to housing are guaranteed by the state, and accordingly the legislation protects people from unlawful interference,” explained Raisa Prikhodko, “the claim to evict a person is shameful.”

In addition, the supporters of the OCU in their claim gave false information that their priest does not have his own house. The Moshchanytsia village council reported the opposite information – he has housing.

After the seizure of the church by supporters of the OCU, the church house is the only place where the UOC believers can hold services.

As reported earlier, in the village of Nova Moshchanytsia, Rivne region, drunken supporters of the OCU came to the courtyard of the church house where the archpriest of the UOC Igor Gnatishin, the rector of the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God, resides and threatened the priest with eviction.

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