Moscow court decided to demolish an only church of UOC-KP in Moscow
On October 3, the Moscow regional court decided to demolish in Noginsk the Holy Trinity Church of Bogorodsk Eparchy of the UOC-KP.
This was reported by Hieromonk Sviatoslav Skorokhod on his Facebook page.
“Today is a black Monday for Bogorodsk Eparchy of the UOC-Kyiv Patriarchate in Russia. The Moscow Regional Court issue a ruling on our appeal. From October 3, 2016, the final verdict in the demolition of our Holy Trinity Church in the city of Noginsk, Moscow region, having met the claim by the plaintiff - Noginsk regional administration (and essentially, the Moscow Patriarchate) and the decision of the first court, Noginsk City Court,” he writes.
The clergyman of the Kyiv Patriarchate said that according to the ruling the church will be demolished in 4 months at the expense of the Kyiv Patriarchate.
"On the eve of the trial our lawyer Tatyana Goryunova was attacked, when she was returning home in the evening: unknown persons fired at her from the car, threatened to kill her if she further supports and protects our church in court.
Unfortunately, everything of Ukrainian origin is systematically destroyed: today it is the resonant decision on demolition of the temple; previously it was closure of Ukrainian libraries and elimination of a single centralized Ukrainian organization "Ukrainian Congress of Russia,” Fr Sviatoslav adds.
The church in Noginsk was the only religious building in Russia in the jurisdiction of the UOC-KP.
The Holy Trinity Church existed since the early 90s, and in 1994 its abbot Metropolitan Adrian (Skaryna), being an ethnic Ukrainian, joined the UOC-KP.
Faithful and clergy UOC-KP were constantly subjected to harassment by the Moscow Patriarchate, which has become global after the Ukrainian Russian war burst out.
The church was denounced on television, on radio and in local newspapers every day. Texts flyers that were plastered around the city have also become harsher. They called the UOC-KP a "false church" and reported that its priests “do not consider a sin to kill those who live in the Donbas and Moscow” and “welcome junta’s military operations in the southeast of the country.”
The peak of bullying was filing a lawsuit in a land dispute on behalf of Noginsk regional administration.
