UOC spokesman: Seizing our churches acts against our state
The UOC told how many communities voluntarily joined the OCU after the outbreak of the war, and how many were taken over.
Archpriest Mykola Danylevych, the Deputy Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, said on the air of the Yedyni Novyny telethon that the mass seizure of the temples of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by representatives of the OCU is an act against Ukraine. The priest emphasized that the situation with seizures is, in fact, an anti-state activity, which divides the Ukrainian society and the people of Ukraine.
The spokesman of the UOC said that there are voluntary transitions in Ukraine, but just a few cases. According to him, after the start of the war, 27 parishes were transferred to the OCU together with a rector, and 13 parishes were transferred without a rector, i.e. a total of 40 cases of the transferred communities. "Our position is as follows: if the community together with the priest decides to join the OCU, we will not prevent it in any way," said the spokesman of the UOC. However, there are much more forced transfers and seizures – 249.
"There are 249 troublesome cases. Out of them, 111 cases of physical seizure were committed, when religious buildings were taken over, forcibly sealed, and the keys were taken away from the religious community," summarized the Deputy Head of the DECR UOC.
As reported by the UOJ, Archpriest Mykola Danylevych said he does not see the number of people in the churches of the OCU as it is reported in social polls.
