Tithe Church Museum Workers Ask Minister of Culture to Dismiss Their Director, Hierodeacon of UOC-MP

The employees of the Museum of History of the Tithe Church forwarded an open letter to Minister of Culture Mykhailo Kulyniak with a request to dismiss the museum director, hierodeacon of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, Yaroslav Doroshenko, reported Kommersant.ua.

The museum workers state in the letter that he intends to build a church on the foundation of the Tithe Church and does not support the research work of the museum. Representatives of the Ministry of Culture denied receipt of such letter.

The open letter from the staff of the Tithe Church Museum to Minister Kulyniak was made public yesterday. It was signed by 12 research workers. The letter specifically says that hierodeacon of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, Yaroslav Doroshenko, who was appointed director of the museum by Minister Kulyniak, employs only representatives of the church community of the Tithe Monastery and dismisses the present research workers: “The objective of the leadership has been reduced to restoration of “historic tradition of Divine Services” in the territory of the Church by means of the construction of a new cathedral and propaganda of religious conscience.”

The letter also says that a worker of the museum, protodeacon Antonii Koval “makes extremist and discriminatory statements with respect to other Christian communities of Ukraine and contemptuous statements about the Ukrainian and international law in the area of protection of monuments.” Several archeologists and art critics were dismissed as the result of the confrontation.

“The museum exists now only de jure and is located in a basement at 6 Volodymyrska Street. Working places are provided only for the director, accountants and personnel department but not for the other 80 workers. The mere lack of space, tables, chairs, any working equipment, stocks, archives, library excludes any possible kinds of research activity and can lead to destruction of the authentic remnants of the Tithe Church due to the construction of a church of UOC-MP.”