Chernivtsi Eparchy: OCU raiders fail to open the doors of Mikhalcha church

Broken doors of the forechurch of the UOC temple in Mikhalche. Photo: the Information Department of the Chernivtsi Eparchy

Raiders from the OCU were unable to get inside the Holy Dormition Church of the UOC in Mikhalcha of the Storozhynets district, Chernivtsi region, but they still remain on the parish grounds. Believers of the canonical Church are now also there, the head of the Information Department of the Chernivtsi-Bukovina Eparchy, Priest Vitaliy Goncharyuk reports to the UOJ.

“Thank God, supporters of the OCU did not enter the church,” the priest said. “There was a forechurch in the temple, and the entrance to it was completely closed. They opened this door and wanted to penetrate further, but there was another reinforced door, and they did not manage to open it before the arrival of the police, who responded to the call in time."

Before the arrival of the police, supporters of the schismatic structure smashed the video cameras installed on the temple grounds and also attacked the rector, hitting him in the chest with a shovel handle and spraying tear gas in his face.

Father Vitaliy said that with the arrival of law enforcers, the situation was stabilized: to prevent further clashes, the police made a living corridor between believers of the UOC and activists of the OCU.

Most of the raiders who attacked the temple, the priest emphasized, are not local residents – they were brought to Mikhalcha in an organized manner to participate in a pre-planned assault. According to eyewitnesses, there were from 50 to 100 people, some activists were armed with brass knuckles.

“Now both the OCU activists and our believers are on the parish territory. The OCU members are standing at their tent, there are about 50 of them. Ours are also about the same. No one entered the church, the police have made a living corridor, investigative actions are being carried out," the head of the Information Department of the Chernivtsi-Bukovina Eparchy of the UOC told the UOJ.

As reported, on the morning of Saturday, December 12, 2020, raiders from the OCU, made another assault on the Holy Dormition Church of the UOC in Mikhalcha.

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