In Sevastopol, occupiers are trying to seize a church from Roman Catholics

This was reported by the National Resistance Center on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.

“In the temporarily occupied city of Sevastopol, the Russian authorities have initiated a process of forcibly seizing the building that houses the Roman Catholic community. This building, previously known as the Druzhba cinema, served as a church before World War II. Currently, the occupiers plan to repurpose it as a wedding palace or concert hall,” the message reads.

This is yet another instance of the suppression of religious freedoms on the peninsula. The center noted, “The Kremlin is consistently dismantling independent communities that do not conform to the 'Orthodox braces' and are not under Moscow's control.”

The Church of St. Clement in Sevastopol was constructed in 1911. In 1936, the city council presidium discontinued the church's operations and repurposed the building for a transformer substation under the Transelectro trust. This decision was made due to the lack of a priest and insufficient financial support, attributed to the small number of parishioners.

In 1948, the church was converted into the Druzhba children's cinema, which had a seating capacity of 300. Since 1998, the Roman Catholic community, along with various public and religious figures, has been appealing to the city authorities to return the church for religious use.

In 2006, the Druzhba cinema was closed. In 2016, the former church building was designated as a cultural heritage site. On December 13, 2017, the Interfaith Council considered the possibility of transferring the church back to the local Roman Catholic community.