A new attack is planned against an Orthodox church in the village of Ptichiya
March 19, 2017 – There is a plenary session of the village council planned for the village of Ptichiya, Rivne oblast (Ukraine). One of the questions that will be discussed involves conducting a referendum about the transfer of the Saint Uspensky Church of the village. The residents of the village see this as another attempt at seizing the church.
“Questions pertaining to the church cannot be discussed in a local town recreational center”, declare the parish members of the Saint Uspensky Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) (UOC-MP).
The parish has rights to towards the Church since 1996, and the Superior Ukrainian Agricultural Court confirmed these right on January 26, 2016. Furthermore, ever since 2012, the Ukrainian government considers any such referendums to be illegal.
The Church in the village of Ptichiye is currently not officially allowed to be used for church services. Nevertheless, the Kiev Patriarchate has ignored this administrative ban of the Superior Court and continues to conduct church services there over the past two years. The believers of the UOC-MP have to conduct services in the garage of the local church rector.
The Union of Orthodox Journalists is monitoring the situation.
Sources
http://pro.church.ua/2017/03/19/planujetsya-chergova-ataka-na-xram-viryani-upc-sela-pticha/
http://uoj.org.ua/ua/novosti/sobytiya/planu-tsya-chergova-ataka-na-khram-viryani-upts-sela-pticha