14.05.2007, [19:37] // Speech, greeting, press release // RISU.ORG.UA
Chernihiv – The Church of the Presentation of the Lord in Pryluky, in northern Ukraine’s Chernivhiv Region, which was recently officially transferred to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), may become a focus for interdenominational conflict. So reads an open address of the local civic organization Institute of the City’s Revival and Development (ICRD) to the Pryluky mayor and deputies of the Pryluky City Council (PCC). RISU posted the report of correspondent Lubov Potapenko on 11 May 2007.
Public concern was caused by the recent decision of the PCC (by secret vote) to transfer the church building, in which a museum is situated, to the community of the UOC-MP.
According to Serhii Korolevskyi, leader of ICRD, the deputies of the PCC made this decision secretly and without any civic discussion, as it had been agreed upon by the former mayor and deputies.
The ICRD in the open address gives the texts of letters both to representatives of the previous local administration and the current Pryluky mayor, Yurii Berkut, as well as the response of the acting mayor, who reassured that the transfer of the worship buildings would be transparent, taking into consideration public opinion.
According to Korolevskyi, in September 2005 a public survey revealed that the residents of Pryluky supported the transfer of the Church of the Presentation of the Lord to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate. Thus, the civic activists propose that the mayor suspend the fulfillment of the decision, study public opinion, and discuss this ambiguous issue in the local press; otherwise interdenominational tension in the city will grow.