Orthodox church burned down in Ukraine
Last Tuesday, the historic wooden church of St. Peter and Paul in the city of Lyman in the eastern region of Donetsk was burnt down. Although there is no official information on the causes of the fire yet, locals favour the theory that the building was set on fire deliberately. The parish to which the church belonged falls under the Moscow Patriarchate, and its pastor repeatedly refused to move to the newly created Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Last Tuesday, the historic wooden church of St. Peter and Paul in the city of Lyman in the eastern region of Donetsk was burnt down. Although there is no official information on the causes of the fire yet, locals favour the theory that the building was set on fire deliberately. The parish to which the church belonged falls under the Moscow Patriarchate, and its pastor repeatedly refused to move to the newly created Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Despite the actions taken, the building could not be saved. The eleven-metre tower of the church and all its interior fittings were completely destroyed. Fortunately, no one was injured or died during the blaze.
In order to understand the motives for possible arson, it is worth considering the historical and cultural context of the region. After Ukraine regained independence in 1991, Orthodoxy in this country was divided into three church structures: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate (non-canonical, i.e. not recognised by other Orthodox Churches) and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.
In 2018, as a result of many years of efforts by the Ukrainian Church and secular authorities, the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I (the symbolic head of the entire Orthodox Church) approved a decree on the creation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which included the former Kiev Patriarchate, an autocephalous church and part of the diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Nowadays, various pressures are being placed in Ukraine on the clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate to transfer parishes to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and the inhabitants of Lymam do not rule out arson as an act of revenge by the faithful of the new Church, as the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is now depicted pejoratively in Ukraine
Source: pch24.pl