Belaya Tserkov eparchy denies the fake on banning a priest for patriotism

Cleric Oleg Gorbovskiy

On his Facebook page, the former rector of the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Rosava complained that he was banned from ministering. As reasons, the cleric noted, "my posts have a 'Maidan character'". This information was published by "Religiina Pravda".

The head of the administrative service of the Belaya Tserkov eparchy of the UOC Protopriest Valery Yablonsky noted that no one had outstaffed Father Oleg, he "was issued a decree appointing a full-time priest to a city church of the deanery". At the same time, the eparchy stressed that the reason for the transfer was primarily the dissatisfaction of believers with the financial activities of Father Oleg in the church. The parishioners of the St. Nicholas Church, where the clergyman Oleg Gorbovskiy was the rector, had repeatedly complained that he "ignores the needs of the parishioners, and all the financial matters are solely handled by his wife - Mother Julia".

At the general meeting, nobody stood up for Father Oleg. It is believed in the eparchy that now the priest simply tries to "hide behind patriotism, although the claims to him were quite different".

Oleg Gorbovskiy is dissatisfied with the new appointment, and in the comments under his post in the social network he is advised to move to another faith.

Protopriest Valery Yablonsky noted that by such posts in the social network the cleric "compromises his order and the oath he made at ordination".

"Reading the comments, where representatives of other faiths say that "come to us", I have a question: Is the priest oath cancelled out in other faiths?" Father Valery asks himself. "Or there isn’t any? Come to your senses and follow the pastoral mind and respect the Church that gave birth to you as a priest, and don’t make a 'martyr' of yourself."

Addressing Gorbovsky, the head of the administrative service of the Belaya Tserkov eparchy of the UOC supposes: "Probably, you have become a weapon in the struggle against the Church. Sorry for you as a man and a Christian, but you yourself chose this path, being in the bosom of the Orthodox Church!"

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