Bodaky: soldier threatened with murder for mourning his grandmother in UOC

A funeral in Bodaky. Photo: UOC Information and Education Department

On June 16, 2023, a conflict took place in the village of Bodaky in the Ternopil region, where supporters of the OCU aggressively hindered the memorial service and burial of the deceased elderly woman Olga, who had wished to be mourned only in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, reports the UOC Information and Enlightenment Department.

The woman's grandson, a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, specifically came from the front for her funeral. However, local supporters of the OCU aggressively opposed his desire to fulfil the deceased's wish and mourn her in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

According to Fr Vasyl Godovych, whose church was taken away in the village in 2022, the soldier received threats from supporters of the OCU. He was said that if he did not abandon his intention to conduct the memorial service in the UOC, he "might not return to the front".

"People from the police, the village head, the head of the local community came to the deceased's family and said they would not allow the 'Moscow priest' to conduct the burial. This time, they started threatening that the deceased's relatives would not receive any assistance, and so on. Yesterday, the police arrived, and alongside them were vans, local OCU supporters brought axes, rakes, pitchforks, and said that if anything happened, they would beat the 'Moscow priest'," the clergyman said.

According to him, the OCU supporters did not even allow the woman to be mourned in a neighbouring village, intimidating the owner of the hearse, which the family had hired. In response, the relatives, along with the priest, decided to simply bury the deceased and then conduct the memorial service remotely. But initially, they were not allowed to do even that.

"They also said that they would not allow the family into the cemetery because it is their property. At the same time, they imposed their condition: they would bring their 'priest' from the OCU, and he would conduct the service," Fr Vasily added.

He reported that "clerics" from the OCU forcibly entered the deceased's family's home and tried to perform their "service" there. However, the family did not allow them to do so and called the police.

The family managed to bury the deceased but without the presence of a priest. Metropolitan Sergius of Kremenets blessed to hold a remote memorial service later. Despite the protests of the deceased's daughter, representatives of the OCU tried to accompany the funeral to the cemetery, but the family managed to get rid of them.

The confrontation in Bodaky has been going on for over a year. In March 2022, the St. Nicholas community of the UOC had their church taken away. The parishioners made cosmetic repairs in one of the clay houses and began holding religious services there. However, even after that, supporters of the OCU did not calm down. They persecute and harass UOC believers. In June 2022, they instigated a scuffle to prevent the priest from attending the service. In July, they broke into the church house of the community through the roof and poured sand on the icon of St. Nicholas, as well as containers with holy water.

As reported, vandals spilt pig's blood in front of the doors of a UOC church in Kordyshev.

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