The mayor of Sevastopol has been asked to return the building of the movie theater “Druzhba,” which had been occupied by a cathedral until 1937, to the city’s Roman Catholic community. Representatives of Crimean civic organizations in the coalition “A Cathedral for the Faithful” made the request in a letter sent on 1 November 2002.
Sevastopol’s Roman Catholics had been allowed to use the building twice a year, on Christmas and Easter. However, permission has been recently discontinued. The Roman Catholic faithful have been attempting to regain their church for eight years. They have sent numerous appeals to various courts and now the case is being considered by the Supreme Court of Ukraine. The faithful now have to pray outside. “In today’s situation, when the necessary legal grounds exist, the only obstacle to making such a decision is the absence of good will,” reads the letter of the coalition. “The realization of the rights of some local religious communities to the restitution of religious buildings, and the unjustified refusals to return religious property to others, is a clear manifestation of discrimination on the basis of religion,” stressed the members of the coalition in their letter.
Source: www.korrespondent.net