Ukrainian Greek Catholic and Orthodox Communities Left Without Building in Dusseldorf

The two largest Ukrainian religious communities in Dusseldorf, Germany – the Orthodox and Greek Catholic ones – have been left without church buildings. Both the Orthodox and Greek Catholics held their services under the same roof – in the Catholic Church of Christ the King, located in a prestigious city area of Oberkassel.

The Roman Catholic community of the city had been allowing Ukrainians to pray there. Now, however, the church building is in need of major repair and, according to the German Wave, neither the Ukrainian religious communities nor the Roman Catholic owners of the church have the necessary funds for the repair.

Consequently, according to the Greek Catholic priest Mykola Pavlyk, the local Roman Catholic parish decided to sell the church. The building is an architectural monument and therefore, according to him, it will not take long to sell it.

Fr. Mykola has no hope to keep the church as a functioning religious institution. He thinks that after the repairs financed by the future owner the church will be turned into a cultural institution. "It is very difficult today to support such churches without an active Roman Catholic community," noted the priest.

The Greek Catholic community of Dusseldorf, however, are hopeful that a new place will be found to hold services by Christmas. According to Fr. Mykola Pavlyk, the Roman Catholic community is of great assistance in this to the Ukrainian Greek Catholics.

The fate of the Ukrainian Orthodox community is less certain. The community, which is made up of about 300 people, does not receive direct financial support either from the Orthodox Churches in Ukraine or from the local religious communities. They may, however, receive some support from non-Orthodox organizations for various religious denominations in Germany closely cooperate with each other.