Canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church Community Files Lawsuit In ECHR Against Kiev

A religious community of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) from the village of Ptycha located in the Rivne Region filed a lawsuit against the Ukrainian authorities to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over an illegal seizure of its cathedral, the church said on Friday in a statement

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2019) A religious community of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) from the village of Ptycha located in the Rivne Region filed a lawsuit against the Ukrainian authorities to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over an illegal seizure of its cathedral, the church said on Friday in a statement.

"The community has a confirmed property right to the cathedral's building and won all the national trials but the use of the cathedral was in fact blocked by the state authorities," the statement said.

Lawyers explained that the lawsuit had been filed over Ukraine's inability to ensure protection of human rights.

On January 6, Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew handed over an independence decree, or tomos of autocephaly, to the head of the newly-established Ukrainian church. The Russian Orthodox Church along with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate the latter is the only canonical Orthodox church in Ukraine have refused to recognize Constantinople's decision, calling it legalization of schism and a tragic day for the world Orthodoxy.

The UOC-MP has repeatedly voiced its concern that the religious schism may result in seizure of its cathedrals in Ukraine.