Attempt of seizure of orthodox church in Vinnitsa region
August 10, 2016. Radical activists were set to grab a near-cemetery church of Saint Basil the Great from the UOC community in Vinnitsa region, Ukraine. According to the UOJ source, thanks to the priests’ awareness-raising efforts, the radicals changed their mind.
The activists insisted that “there is no place for the Moscow Patriarchate on the Ukrainian lands.”
“At the congregation meeting we explained to the attendees that we represent the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – the only canonic organization in Ukraine. And the listeners understood our words. Basically,many problems seem to crop up because priests are unable to make it clear to citizens that we are not “Moscow” as it might loom to somebody, but absolutely the Ukrainian Church. Moreover, the only recognized Ukrainian Church in Ukraine,” tells archpriest Vasiliy Goncharuk, dean of Nemirov district of Tulchin diocese.
As a matter of fact, the UOC community in Nikiforovtsy village was registered in 2004.