Roman Catholics in Sevastopol conduct festive Paschal service in front of closed church

On Easter Sunday, April 1, the Roman Catholic community of Sevastopol prayed on the street in front of the church's closed door. The worship was held by a priest of the UGCC, who read out the greetings from the Metropolitan Lazar of Simferopol and the Crimean (Moscow Patriarchate) and Fr Serhiy Haliuta, dean of Sevastopol deanery, reports Krym.Realii.

The faithful prayed for returning ownership of the church. During the Divine Liturgy, one of the priests said that the Roman Catholic community would be able to get possession of the building of the church, the relevant documents, according to him, have been filed to the Russian governor of Sevastopol, Dmitry Ovsyannikov.

The city government website has no information on the transfer of the building to the Roman Catholic community.

The Catholic community of Sevastopol includes more than two hundred people. In 2014, the religious organization of the Roman Catholic Church in Sevastopol re-registered in accordance with the laws of Russia.

The building of the Sebastopol church on Schmidt Street, 1, despite all the efforts of the Catholic community and the existence of a law on the restitution of religious property, have not returned believers.

To date, the children's cinema hall "Druzhba" is located on the premises, it does not operate and, according to the head of the local organization “Sevastopolkino,” Dmytro Garnega, will soon undergo reconstruction.

Before the annexation of the Crimea, the City Council of Sevastopol would not transfer the building to the Catholic community, since it was not in the state but in communal ownership.