Defense of The Faith
Odessa Prosecutors Hope Third Time's the Charm in Church Seizure
Rebuffed twice in court, the state does not know when to quit.
In Odessa, parishioners of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “of the Sign” have spent years defending a building they largely paid for themselves. Two courts have already told the authorities they cannot simply take it. The Odessa Regional Prosecutor’s Office is now asking Ukraine’s Supreme Court to overturn those rulings and hand the church over to a trade college.
The facts of the case are straightforward. Under a 2007 investment agreement, the community covered 84.9 percent of construction costs. Since 2009, the parish has used the building openly for worship. For years, the state raised no objection. When prosecutors finally acted, they chose a legal tool meant for recovering property from unlawful possession – even though contractual relations already existed. Both the first-instance commercial court and the appeals court rejected the claim. The prosecutor’s office, representing Ukraine’s Ministry of Education, is persisting.
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