Conflict Over Church Building in Novoarkhangelsk Continues

Several hundreds of parishioners of St. Volodymyr’s Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate in Novoarkhangelsk of Kirovohrad Region celebrated Palm Sunday in a shop yard near their church. The parish priest served a prayer service and consecrated the traditional willow branches, Channel 5 reported.

At the same time, the church was guarded by 80 special force policemen. A few days ago, clashes between representatives of the Kyiv and Moscow Patriarchates occurred because of the only Orthodox building in the town. Today, the building is sealed, and the reps of the Moscow Patriarchate that claim the building decided not to hold any events.