Popelnya village, the Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region, June 30, 2015
Supporters of the so-called “Kyiv Patriarchate” have attempted to seize the St. Nicholas Church in the Popelnya village of the Zhytomyr region in the Ukraine, reported representatives of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s Zhytomyr Diocese.
The “Kyiv Patriarchate” supporters arrived to the St. Nicholas Church on June 30 and attempted to occupy the church building. Local believers and clergy of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church tried to resist them.
Law-enforcement agencies officers arrived at the scene of the conflict; however, the “Kyiv Patriarchate” supporters did not calm down and for a long time tried to storm into the temple. As a result of the conflict the St. Nicholas Church in Popelnya was sealed until the further examination of the case.
Recently supporters of the “Kyiv Patriarchate”, who are a minority in the Popelnya village, with the help of a local deputy of the Svoboda (“Freedom”) Ukrainian radical nationalist party, established their own community in the village, unlawfully annulling the membership of this parish church in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (of the Moscow Patriarchate) and making unlawful claims on the building. After this the interdenominational conflict in the village was in full swing and eventually took the shape of an open confrontation, reports the Pravlife.org portal.
