In the Zaporozhye diocese of the UOC, a meeting of the Diocesan Council was held under the leadership of Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye and Melitopol, the Zaporozhye diocese reports.

The diocese discussed that according to the instructions of representatives of regional state administrations, local authorities collect information about the diocese’s religious communities, for this they are asked to answer a number of questions.

At the same time, local authorities could not explain for what purpose this is being done. This question was answered by the head of the legal department of the diocese, Fr. Markian (Mashyanov), who noted that this is all illegal, and any question of this kind should be made officially. In this regard, Metropolitan Luke did not bless the clergy to answer these questions until they were asked in the manner prescribed by law.

The priests were asked the following questions:

How many clerics?

How many are foreigners?

What periodicals does the church produce?

Do they belong to the new OCU?

The number of places of worship?

If the structures are owned: returned, built or architectural monuments?

If the structures are in use: were they transferred or are architectural monuments?

Number of rooms adapted for prayer: are they owned, rented, or others?

Were foreigners invited to worship: citizenship, denomination, purpose of entry and number?

Was the charter of their religious community changed?