Priests of the UOC-MP in Bukovyna did not allow to bring the body of a fallen soldier to the church for the funeral service (video)
In the village of Zadubrivka (Chernivtsi region), clergymen from the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate did not allow the relatives and friends of the fallen soldier Ivan Nazariy to bring his body to the Church of the Archangel Michael and hold a funeral service.
This was reported by priest Vitaliy Menzak to molbuk.ua. According to him, on April 5, the village said goodbye to the Hero. However, the priests did not allow the coffin with his body to be brought into the church.
"Adherents of the Moscow Patriarchate do not allow the body of the soldier to enter the church. They provoke a fight. No one explains why the coffin with the fallen soldier is not allowed into the church. They just stand there and do not let the funeral procession pass," Menzak said.
He showed a video that shows the military man's mother crying and asking the clergy to let the funeral procession into the church. However, the priests blocked the entrance.
Participants in the funeral procession began to riot and shouted: "Down with the Moscow priest!", "Warrior to the church". This unfortunate situation reportedly continued for several hours.
Father Vitaliy also said that "Father Durov, who led the UOC supporters who were in the church," did not let the procession go.
The molbuk.ua website subsequently reported that after a long argument, the UOC MP priests left the church and the funeral procession managed to reach the middle of the church.
"The funeral of the Ukrainian soldier was in Ukrainian. He was given a funeral by priests of the UOC-MP. We hope that today in the church in the village of Zadubrovka the first service in Ukrainian will take place," commented priest Vitaly Menzak.
Suspilne writes that representatives of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine had to enter the church by force in order to give the requiem for the hero who died for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the local newspaper Express informs that last week two dead fighters were buried in the same village and the body of neither was taken to the church. The local priest said that this was "the decision of his parishioners".
The publication writes that there is one church and two religious communities in the village of Zadubrovka. In 2019, a large part of the UOC MP community decided to switch to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine - they held a meeting, registered the new religious organisation and received a certificate of ownership of the church. However, members of the PCU religious community have been holding services in the street for the fourth year in a row - UOC MP believers do not allow them to enter the church. They also do not allow funerals in the church for soldiers who died in the war against the Russians.
The priest has to read prayers in the yard of the deceased's house and then the coffin is carried to the cemetery.
It is noted that the UOC MP parishioners in Zadubrovka believe that the PCU believers should build themselves a temple.
We shall remind you that on April 1, it became known that volunteer Daniil Lyashuk, whose call sign sign was Mujahid, died in the battle for Ukraine at the front. The native of Belarus had been fighting against the Russians since 2014.
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