Public prayers were disrupted by the aggressive mob that broke into a church after the liturgy in Kiev Region.
March 17, 2019 – After the liturgy at the Dormition of the Mother of God Church in the village of Pogreby, the mob of villagers that are not parishioners entered the church and aggressively disrupted public prayers, screaming demands to vacate the church, reports Boryspil Diocese of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church[note]The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) is an autonomous Orthodox Church with the headquarter in Kiev, Ukraine. It is spiritually and canonically linked with the Russian Orthodox Church.[/note]. Arriving at the scene, the police took everyone out of the church. The parishioners continued prayers outside in front of the gates of the church’s yard under the supervision of the armed police.
On 2 February 2019, about a hundred villagers gathered at the village council to change the jurisdiction of the religious community. Calling themselves the “Orthodox community of the church,” the participants in the meeting unanimously voted for the transition of the Orthodox church into OCU[note]Orthodox Church of Ukraine is a religious organization that was formed with an aid of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine and with non-canonical actions of the Constantinople Patriarchate at the end of 2018. So far, none of the canonical Orthodox Churches has recognised this organization as an Orthodox Church.[/note]. In contrast, the parishioners of the Dormition of the Mother of God’s Church reported that they remain faithful to the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church and to its Primate, the Beatitude of the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine Onufry. In addition, the Boryspil Diocese pointed out, that activists from the mob had been distributing political agitational literature of one of the candidates for the presidency of Ukraine among the villagers at some time prior the incident.
Visual Testimony:
Sources:
Information and Education department of the Boryspil Diocese, Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) – March 17, 2019, “in the Pogreby (Brovarsk region), an attempt was made to seize the temple by supporters of the OCU”
Related Publications:
- March 14, 2019 – Interview with victims of the recent seizure of a Holy Protection Church and with Brian S. Brown, a president of the World Congress of Families, who visited the place of the incident.
- March 10, 2019 – Sunday Divine Liturgy was prevented and the church hijacked in the presence of Local Authorities and the police.
- March 9, 2019 – The supporters of the OCU did not permit the clergy of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church to celebrate the All-Night Vigil in the village of Bohoniki