In Krenychi, UOC community not allowed to attend meeting on transfer to OCU

The Intercession Church of the UOC in the village of Krenychi. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

On 26 August 2023, in the village of Krenychi, Kyiv region, the raiders held the so-called "community meeting" of the Intercession Church of the UOC for its "transfer" to the OCU. The community itself, led by the clergy, was not allowed to attend the meeting, reports the Telegram channel "Dozor on ‘Kozak 1’".

Believers of the UOC came to the village club where the event took place following the legitimate meeting of the Intercession parish held in the temple, at which the parishioners unanimously voted to remain in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

"The supporters of the OCU met the real owners of the temple with curses and insults," says Dozor. "The activists told an AFU colonel, a believer of the UOC, that he was 'behaving like an enemy' in defence of his Church."

Parishioners of the temple were not allowed to vote, citing the fact that the ballots do not provide for the option of expressing the will against the transition to the OCU.

"With the help of the police, we documented that we were not allowed to vote and recorded the violation of our constitutional rights. There was a video fixation," noted the priest of the temple, Archimandrite Joseph.

According to him, the community will further defend their rights through legal means.

The Pereyaslav-Vyshneve "Eparchy" of the OCU reported that in Krenychi, "a meeting of the religious community was held, and the assembly expressed support for the transition of the Holy Intercession parish to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine".

The wooden Intercession Church in the village of Krenychi was built in 1761 and is an architectural monument of national significance.

As reported, the UOC denied the information about the "transfer" of the St. Nicholas Church in the city of Kamianka in the Cherkasy region to the OCU.

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