In the OCU, where they declared the “legality” of the re-registration of the religious community in Sutkivtsi, “everything is based on lies and slander.” Archpriest Vladimir Stepanishin, the rector of the Holy Protection Church of the UOC in the village of Sutkovtsy, Yarmolinetsky district, Khmelnitsky region, said this in a commentary for the UOJ.
The clergyman noted that the situation in the village is stable and the community continues to serve in its church, although “people are all alarmed” by the information about the results of the Supreme Court, which is “fanned” by the supporters of the OCU.
As Father Vladimir explained, “we were not in litigation with our opponents from the OCU, but with the regional state administration. We only wanted to register our new charter, but the Regional State Administration did not want to do this. There are many such situations now.”
He stressed that the religious community – and this is 300 people – remains in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which she previously unanimously testified to, and its old charter, adopted in 2017, is “completely legal.”
As for the decision of the Supreme Court, the OCU “simply made an elephant out of a fly, fanning information that has not yet been confirmed.”
“There was a lot of panic and noise, local TV was coming. They slander that it was me who created the conflict in the village, they say, I collected signatures and deceived everyone. They all have lies and slander.
There are only a few people in the village who consider themselves a “community”. Now there are even fewer of them – 10-20 people. They registered at our address, this is not legal, I saw their charter – the address is written by hand. They do not have all the necessary documents, they only show their charter and the order of the Regional State Administration. They are disturbing the village, they say, they have officially crossed over … There is nothing official yet. They did everything illegally, with violations, and they believe that this is their temple, ”the rector summed up.
Earlier, the OCU reported that on April 6, 2021, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of Ukraine rejected the claim of the religious community of the UOC in the village of Sutkivtsi and recognized its re-registration with the OCU as legal.