Archbishop of Kyiv Patriarchate Asks President to Stop 'Self-will' in Donetsk Region

In view of the attempts to take over churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, the head of the Donetsk Eparchy o thef UOC-KP, Archbishop Serhii (Horobtsov), addressed Ukraine's president with an open letter. In the letter, the hierarch of the UOC-KP asks Viktor Yanukovych to initiate an investigation of the incident of December 6, 2010, in the village of Kamianka and stop the "self-will" in his native region.

"We address You as Ukraine's President and Guarantor of the Constitution with a request to protect our public, religious and property rights," reads the address of Archbishop Serhii to the head of the state, published by the press service of the UOC-KP Donetsk Eparchy.

In addition, the bishop added that the president "as a parishioner," must be aware "that each church belongs only to the church community, and no outsiders may encroach upon it."

Background Information

As RISU reported earlier, an official statement of the UOC-KP reported that an attempt was made to take over the parish of the Resurrection of the Lord of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate of the village of Kamianka in the Donetsk Oblast.  A similar attack against a parish of the UOC-KP was registered on December 7 in the village of Rozdolne.

According to the document, rich businessmen from Donetsk, A. Koriuk and N. Maltopar, together with representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate, including the senior priest of the Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in the settlement of Telmanove, attempted to hold an illegitimate "meeting of the residents of the village" in order to draw up documents and transfer the community of the Church of the Resurrection to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.

According to the press service of the UOC-KP, the situation regarding the Parish of the Resurrection remains tense. "As of December 8, parishioners in Kamianka have to barricade themselves in their church. They fear not only for the church but also for their health and even life, as criminal-looking persons, of whom one can expect anything in this situation, appeared in the village," reported the press service of the UOC-KP.