UOC Priest Found Guilty for Holding Unapproved Church Procession

The procession outside of the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon, which is located on hospital grounds. Photo: Kovel Media

KOVEL — Fr. Vladimir Shkvarok, a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), has been found guilty for holding a procession around his church located at a hospital in August.

According to reporting by Kovel Media, the procession took place on the grounds of the central district hospital in Kovel, Volyn Province. The St. Panteleimon Church is located at the hospital, and authorities claimed that Fr. Vladimir did not coordinate the procession with the Kovel Military District.

This "violated public order and created obstacles to the free movement of citizens, committing an offense under Part 1 of Art. 185-1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses," the article states.

In court, Fr. Vladimir said he did not know that he needed a permit to hold the procession, admitting his guilt while asking for a relaxed punishment due to his wife who suffers from a disability relying on his support.

He was found guilty by Judge Alexei Shyshilin, given a warning and ordered to pay a court fee that amounts to nearly $15 USD.

For what was merely a Christian procession done in love, Kovel Media reported on the situation in this way:

The guilt of the priest is fully proved by the evidence collected in the case, attached to the protocol on an administrative offense: the report of the policeman on duty about the incident, the statement and explanation of two citizens, photo tables, the message of the head of the Kovel District Military Administration that the parishioners of the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon of the UOC-MP did not receive an appeal for permission to hold a mass event on the territory of the Kovel MTMO.

This reflects the continual insistence on referring to the UOC as the "UOC-MP" in an attempt to declare the entire canonical Church as a political agent of Moscow while treating processions that have always been an essential aspect of Orthodox Christian culture and spiritual life as serious offenses that require witnesses and evidence. 

Previously, UOJ reported that the popular Lviv-based TV channel NTA organized surveillance of Orthodox believers, exposed the addresses of private apartments where divine services are held, and labeled parishioners as “potential murderers” and “FSB agents.”

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