In the Chernihiv region, a community reopened a church following a dispute with the OCU
In the village of Bezuglivka in the Chernihiv region, local residents cut off the locks on the church doors to gain access to the interior. The incident occurred on the evening of April 15.
This was reported by “Suspilne.”
According to residents, the community had already decided in January to transfer St. Michael’s Church from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
However, the church’s rector, Yaroslav Sobolevsky, did not hand over the keys to the building, so the people decided to call the police and opened the church doors in their presence.
Local resident Kateryna Mazur said that the transition process began back in the fall. In September, the community began preparing the documents, and in January received approval from the Chernihiv Diocese of the OCU. There was also an order from the Chernihiv Regional State Administration regarding the church’s transition.
Despite this, the rector did not recognize the community’s decision and did not hand over the keys.
The priest stated that he had not received any requests from local residents regarding the transfer of the church and does not recognize the transition procedure.
He emphasized that, in his opinion, the decision was made by people who have no connection to the church community.
After the church was opened, residents reported that new locks had already been installed inside and the premises were being renovated. They also claim that the previous rector removed some of the icons from the church.
As a reminder, on Maundy Thursday, April 9, the religious community of the village of Makiyivka, located in the Bila Tserkva district of the Kyiv region, made a historic decision to change its jurisdiction.
The Synod of the OCU summoned the self-proclaimed leaders of the UOC-KP to a church court.
