Roman Catholics in Sevastopol to hold campaign to demand return of their church

The Roman Catholic community in Sevastopol will hold a campaign to demand the return of their church, which was built 100 years ago and taken away from the parish in 1930, the head of the Roman Catholic community in Sevastopol, Father Yurii Ziminskii, said during a press conference, UNIAN reports.

According to the priest, the local Catholics had hoped the issue would have been considered during the recent plenary session of the city council, but it was not included on the agenda. “We will continue to defend our position. We came forward with an initiative and have sent a corresponding letter to the head of the Lenin Regional Administration. And the Roman Catholic parishioners are holding a perpetual campaign,” said the priest. He also said that “a few days a week, a few hours a day near the church [Editor: which during Soviet times was used as a cinema] will be a tent, where there will be large pictures of the church from 1912 and 1944 (after the city was liberated), as well as icons. We have printed informative leaflets. We will collect signatures.”

Father Ziminskyi also said that the government asked them to postpone the campaign and not install a tent. “On July 1 we stood next to the church for 2.5 hours. No rush – we gathered 75 signatures. We will continue to do this. And for now we will wait, as we were asked to do, to see what the government decides.

As was reported earlier, several times over the last 10 years the Sevastopol City State Administration has tried to get the city council to consider the issue about the return of the church to the Roman Catholic community. The deputies do not support the initiative, arguing that municipal property cannot be given away, while getting nothing in return.