23.05.2007, [11:04] // Conflict // RISU.ORG.UA
Ternopil – For 16 years, the community of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) in the village of Dubivtsi, in western Ukraine’s Ternopil Region, has been denied access to the church building by the community of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC). The Church of St. Michael the Archangel was constructed in 1906, but UGCC faithful have to celebrate Liturgies in the church yard all year round. Only on major holidays is the UGCC community allowed to serve Liturgies in the local school. The report of RISU correspondent Volodymyr Moroz was posted on 22 May 2007.
“We were told that we will not be allowed to bury [our faithful] in the cemetery,” said Bohdan Redkva, a leader of the UGCC community. “I have known all the administration heads, Boiko, Kosenko, and Kolomiichuk, since 1991, and had a chance to talk to them personally. All of them promised to solve the dispute. Back in 1998 the head of the regional administration ordered the district administration to organize alternating Liturgies for 10 days. However, nothing has been done in that respect so far.”
According to Redkva, the Greek Catholics have no intention of possessing the church building and are ready to conduct alternating Liturgies, to coordinate time for the use of the church building with the UAOC community, but the latter does not agree.
According to government estimates, Greek Catholics in Dubivtsi are in the minority, 60 people versus 570 faithful of the UAOC. All in all, 770 residents are registered in the village, and 150 of those are abroad. A fairly large number of local residents are retired and the UGCC does not have enough resources to construct a new church building, said Dubivtsi Mayor Mykola Duma. In addition, most young Greek Catholics have moved to the regional center, the city of Ternopil, and visit their parents on weekends or holidays. Redkva agrees with the numbers, noting that the number of parishioners coming to the church yard for services on major holy days reaches 80 people, and 20 people on Sundays. Mykola Zozulia, a community leader of the UAOC, said that in Dubivtsi their community claims 90% of the residents, and the Greek Catholics 10%, but he refused to go into detail.
According to Oksana Kozibroda, village secretary, the faithful of the UAOC do not stress their denominational adherence much and just go to church. She said that local women who attend services “in the church building” consider the “stubborn” Greek Catholics to be somewhat “strange” due to their unwillingness to do the same.
“I cannot understand how someone baptized Greek Catholic can support autocephaly, which is not canonical and not recognized by anyone,” argued Redkva.
The village mayor considers that the best option would be if the communities could see eye to eye on alternating Liturgies and notes that the ongoing conflict is just a problem of the local priests, Fr. Myroslav Khudiak and Fr. Andrii Yatsiuk.