News in brief from Russia - Another ROAC Church stolen by MP

[尼古拉前执事]

ROAC church of St.Olga in Zheleznovodsk was seized by MP yesterday using special police. The priests do not think there are chances to get it back. Please pray!

[Jean-Serge]

Which was the legal basis to seize the building?

[尼古拉前执事]

An excerpt from:
Vertograd
An Orthodox Magazine
News Bulletin #564. Monday, April 3rd, 2006, 9:40 PM.

ROAC Church of St. Olga in Zheleznovodsk Given Over to Stavropol Diocese of the MP With Help From Cossacks and OMON

(MP—Russian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate; OMON—a sort of quasi official paramilitary group or auxiliary police, which handles jobs too messy for the police-trans.)

(portal-credo.ru – Vertograd, Zheleznovodsk)

Code: Select all

At about 9:00 AM on Monday, April 3rd, the Church of St. Olga, which belongs to the ROAC (Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church), was transferred by officers of the court to the authority of the Stavropol and Vladikavkaz Diocese of the MP. This information was given to a reporter for Portal-Credo.Ru during his conversation with one of the priests of the ROAC Orthodox community there, Archpriest George Novakovsky.

According to him, approximately five hundred parishioners of St. Olga’s Church, together with the community’s clergy, Frs. Anatoly, Roman, and George Novakovsky, assembled at about 7:00-8:00 AM in order to serve a supplicatory prayer service. The parishioners did not wait for the court officers since office workers of the court had earlier told community representatives that the officers might come at any time during the course of the day. Nevertheless, at 8:00 AM, Cossacks from the town of Mineral Waters arrived, which began to force their way into the church. However, the parishioners formed a human barricade and would not let them get through.

Fr. George remarked that the MP Diocese had purposely invited Cossacks from Mineral Waters since the Cossacks from Zheleznovodsk had refused to be involved in any action against the most well-known and largest Orthodox community of the ROAC in town. After the Cossacks failed to take immediate control of the church, police officers and members of the OMON, together with officers of the court, arrived. They forced the parishioners and the Cossacks out of the way, and the three priests—the Novakovsky brothers—and their wives, who had remained in the church, ceased opposing the representatives of the court and turned over the church keys to the bailiff. The bailiff in turn gave them to Vasiliy Chechil, representative of the MP Diocese of Stavropol.

According to Fr. George, the rector of the Church of the Holy Protection of the Mother of God in Kavminvody, Fr. Ilya Ageev, has been named as the new rector of St. Olga’s Church. Archpriest George Novakovsky made a special point of saying that when it came to the question of removing the furnishings from the church, the community had been willing to leave the icon screen in the church, but the MP’s representative said that they had their own icon screen.

The police in Zheleznovodsk, who are well acquainted with the community led by the Novakovsky’s, offered the use of a vehicle to the parishioners for moving the church furnishings. After all of the icons and other furnishings were moved, the parishioners and clergy of St. Olga’s Church marched in procession to Fr. George’s home, where the parish will continue to meet after their eviction.

The ROAC community, which had been using the church built by the Novakovsky brothers for the last sixteen years, is planning on petitioning the Zheleznovodsk city administration for a parcel of land where they can build another church center, especially now that relations between the ROAC community and the Zheleznovodsk city administration have improved since Victor Lozovoy replaced the MP sympathizer Anatoly Zubtsov as mayor. According to Fr. George, Lozovoy had been promising from the start that the  church would not be taken away from the parishioners.

We remind our readers that what took place on April 3rd, was nothing other than the fulfillment of the decisions handed down by the Stavropol and Krasnodar (arbitrazhny) courts concerning the transfer of the buildings of St. Olga’s Church to the jurisdiction of the Stavropol Diocese of the MP. In the fall of 2005, the judges had confirmed the claims of the Stavropol Diocese of the MP to property belonging to the ROAC, and had given the parishioners until the spring of 2006 to cede their property.

[Priest Siluan]

Which was the legal basis to seize the building?

We have already lost other temples (and this case is similar, there is more information back in others post) and the legal bases were that the clergymen and parishioners belonged to the MP in the moment to build them. In all the cases they didn't receive neither one cent from the MP to build them.

There is a quite singular case from a parish to the outskirts of Moscow which it has a very similar history to this last (They also come from MP), they lost their original church building in the same way and then they bought a parcel land and they built another temple (which construction already this finished) while it was built, MP and the different authorities made all the possible thing to impede the construction. I think that in this case the MP didn't have any clear pretext.

[Kollyvas]

Evlogeite Pateres.
I think that this type of activty is illicit and unworthy of a Russian Orthodox Christian. Your communities bought and financed and were keeping up their churches. Your differences with the Patriarchate involve resistance on valid points. You aren't a "totalitarian sect" or even a non-Orthodox body, and you don't even consider your existence as separate from Russian Orthodoxy. I have recently become aware of +Alexis II's reference to heretical rome as a "sister church" and MP participation in ecumenical services in Italy, high level participation. Your resistance is legitimate, although you're not getting your message out, and at times your emphases are misplaced. ROCOR selling out doesn't help you either: it's sad how immature ROCOR Priests even treat utter ecumenist jannisaries like +hilarion as VIPs. Perhaps, resistance on your parts should take a diplomatic, yet uncompromising public character, one of protests and media. I sympatize with you plight, realize these actions are wrong, and hope that you aid people outside of your jurisdiction in understanding who you are and why you're in resistance to the MP in a way in which they will listen and consider.
In the LOVE of Christ,
Rostislav Mikhailovich Malleev-Pokrovsky

[Priest Siluan]

Bog blagoslovite!

Dear Rostislav:

First

S Praznikom Blagoslovetchenie Bogoroditse!!!

Second

I agree with you, God may grant us patience and strength to continue resisting to the injustice, and without abandoning the Christian Love.

With love in Christ and ask your prayers for me

Priest Siluan