Sumy Parish of UGCC Seeks Allocation of Land for Construction of Church

Fr. Arystarkh Diadia, the senior priest of the parish of the Presentation of the Holy Virgin to the Temple of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, hopes that the newly elected city council will eventually pass a resolution to allocate a land plot for the construction of its church building.

"We are preparing documents to be submitted to the city development council. We hope that the head of the Sumy Department of Architecture and City Development, Volodymyr Bykov, will as soon as possible select a vacant and appropriate land plot. We also hope that the new deputies of the city council will eventually support the allocation of the land,” noted the priest.

Father Arystarkh also reported that liturgies are now celebrated at his apartment. He also ministers a parish in Okhtyrka, where there is also no church building and services are served in a private apartment. The priest’s responsibilities also include services in the chapel of “oilmen” near the village of Khukhra of Okhtyrka District and visits the village of Anastasivka of Romna District, where Greek Catholics live.

After its registration in 2005, the Sumy Parish of the UGCC has sought to receive land for the construction without result. The last time this question was submitted to the consideration of the city council, only 5 deputies voted for the decision.