Moscow Orthodox Demand Return Of Building In Kherson

The demands of the UOC-MP community were based on the presidential decree on the return of former church buildings to their legitimate owners. The local authorities, however, proposed that the community use the building of a former kindergarten instead of the theological college, which did not satisfy the Kherson eparchy of the UOC-MP. Then, the Moscow Orthodox priests decided to picket the Kherson regional administration, calling their act “prayerful standing.” In answer to this, V. Saldo, head of the Kherson municipal administration, appealed to the court with a request to ban the “religious picket.” After Saldo’s request had been granted, the clergy of the Kherson eparchy of the UOC-MP met. They decided to strip Saldo of his title of honorable churchwarden of the Assumption Cathedral of the UOC-MP in Kherson. In addition, the mayor was also stripped of his title of honorable parishioner of the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross. The reason for this, as formulated in the eparchy’s decision, was “the humiliation of the dignity of the Holy Church.”

Source: www.polit.com.ua