Several priests of the Romanian community of Chernivtsi region have sent a letter to the Parliament of Romania with a request for mediation in the conflict between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which it represents, and the Ukrainian authorities, reports Agerpres.

Romanian priests claim that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church “categorically broke with the Moscow Patriarchate” and condemned Russia for starting a war against Ukraine.

“We ask the authorities of the Romanian state – parliamentarians, senators, ministers, state secretaries, leaders of the state where our brothers live by heart – to intervene together with the authorities of Ukraine (central, regional and local) so that they do not take decisions directed against the Romanian community and her church Any decision must take into account the opinion of the Romanians of Northern Bukovina, who do not want to become a side victim of the war, which has already claimed many lives of ethnic Romanian soldiers, who defend the territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state with weapons in their hands. with your own hands,” says “Desperate call from Northern Bukovyna”.

Priest Pavlo Pavlenko from the parish of the village of Goreya claims that the situation in Chernivtsi worsened after the local authorities announced their intention to take ownership of the land on which churches are being built.

“We understand that this is a war and that many laws are broken, but we did not believe that human rights could be violated, especially with regard to the free will to believe what everyone wants. (…) The Chernivtsi City Council wants to make a decision on terminating the lease agreement for the land on which the church stands, which is actually in our permanent use from the Ukrainian state, with all the documents in order. What would that mean? This first pulls the soil out from under the feet and means that there is no church either. They will come, seal the church and give it to others in a short time,” says Pavlenko.

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Political scientist Serhiy Hakman claims that during this period the discord between Ukrainian churches deepened even more due to disputes between priests, who are dominated by different interests.

“In this situation, unfortunately, the Ukrainian Church, which belonged to the Moscow Patriarchate, did not find a formula for how to act in wartime, in a situation when the leadership of the Church is in Moscow, and the leadership of this Church belongs to the Russian Federation. Well, moreover, she blesses the enemy troops and here, of course, there was a certain conflict. This conflict between the two churches deepened. There were also such conflicts in the early 90s, but it was more between parents from different churches, without the population being too involved. The churches should have been fairer to each other, to find God even more in their behavior, and not only in their words,” said Hakman.

A place of worship in the region was set on fire earlier this week amid tensions between two Orthodox churches, Agerpres reports.

In addition, several churches and monasteries belonging to the Moscow Church were seized after the war because of the allegedly pro-Russian behavior of the priests.

Read also:

• VIDEO. Priests of the Moscow Patriarchate allegedly used fire extinguishers to prevent the funeral of a Ukrainian soldier in Chernivtsi – press
• VIDEO The priest beat the Ukrainian soldier in the church. What annoyed the priest
• VIDEO The abbot of the Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv, Metropolitan Pavel, was put under house arrest on charges of inciting religious enmity and supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine
• The Moscow Patriarchate refuses to evacuate the Pechersk Lavra from Kyiv