orthodoxrights.org

February 26, 2016. The Cathedral of Candlemas which is being built in Konstantinovka (Ukraine, Donetsk Region) was seized by representatives of the ‘Kyiv Patriarchate’ on the 14th of October 2015. The diocese of Gorlovka filed a lawsuit seeking to settle this issue in accordance with the Ukrainian law, as reports diocese official website.

A hering on the seizure of the Cathedral of Candlemas by representatives of ‘Kyiv Patriarchate’ was held in the Economic Court of Donetsk Region in Kharkov on February 26, 2016. Diocese contacted Yuri Zakharchenko – the counsel representing Gorlovka diocese in court and asked him the following questions:

 

When did you file the case on the seizure of the Cathedral of Candlemas?

 

The case was filed on 10 December 2015 and this is when the court admitted it for hearing.

 

How many hearings have already taken place and what was decided?

 

We had four hearings so far but the court has not actually proceeded to the consideration of the case as we were collecting evidence and necessary official documents concerning the church from public authorities.

 

How did you phrase the claim – that is to say, what are we aiming at?

 

We are aiming at the annulment of the adopted decisions, namely those of the replacement of the managing staff of the church and the delivery of the church to the ‘Kyiv Patriarchate’.

 

What was discussed during the hearing on 23 February 2016?

 

During that hearing the court discussed procedural points. It has not yet proceeded to the consideration of the case; it is just undertaking preparatory actions. As the case is a difficult and high-profile one, it was decided to consider it en banc before three judges (previously it was heard by a single judge). The trial started by the diocese of Gorlovka puts forward two questions: one concerning the replacement of the managing staff of the church performed by Y. Shapran in April 2015 and the other concerning the change of the confessional affiliation of the church.

I would like to mention that the question on the replacement of the managing staff was filed as a separate case, therefore, there will be two trials – one on the managing staff and the other on the change of the confessional affiliation.

We have already filed the second case and are waiting for the court’s procedural decision (concerning the initiation of the proceeding) expected to be adopted during the next week.

 

What was undertaken in the court?

 

I requested the two cases to be heard together. The counsel of the ‘Kyiv Patriarchate’ objected to this proposal. Normally, when a question arises during a hearing, the judge considers the opinions of representatives of all parties, so was done. Eventually, the court decided to settle the issue during the next hearing which will take place on 15 March 2016, and did not adopt any decision.

Actually the court has not yet proceeded to the consideration of the case. What steps were taken from the date of the filing of the case? At the very first hearing we requested that the court examine all the documentation contained in the registration file of the moral person – the cathedral, that is all documentation concerning its history. The court granted our request. In fact, two hearings were interrupted as the documents of the registration file could not reach the court because of the structural subdivision of the Ministry of Justice. We have finally got the documents before the following hearing on 8 February 2016 and we requested the hearing to be postponed in order to have time to examine them. Now we can proceed to the consideration of the case as all evidence is collected and we can use them in the court.