Ukrainians Demand Bill on Transfer of Ukrainian Shrines to Russia Be Withdrawn
In Ternopil, Kyiv, Lutsk, Rivne, Lviv, Cherkasy, Sumy and other places of Ukraine, public hearings were held to discuss Bill 9690 which was registered in the Parliament by members of the Party of Regions and Communist Party, Stepan Barna, the coordinator of the public movement Ukrainian Shrines to Ukrainian Nation reported to ZIK.
The bill envisages the privatization of Ukrainian shrines, in particular the Pochayiv and Kyiv Cave Monasteries, and the transfer thereof to the Moscow Patriarchate.
During the hearings all over Ukraine the public demanded that this anti-Ukrainian bill be revoked from the Supreme Council.
Stepan Barna is convinced that “if the bill is passed, the most outstanding Ukrainian spiritual and historic shrines will be in the hands of the Russian Church and Kirill Gundiaev.
According to him, what is happening now is actually a special operation to seize the Ukrainian shrines.
“These personalities even parade the book cost of the buildings, particularly, the Pochaiv Monastery. (Agreement 1 of December 12, 2003, between the Cabinet of Ministers and the religious community). “According to the agreement, the Cathedral of the Assumption built in 1771-1782 by the architect Hofman costs UAH 245 thousand , the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (1906-1912, architect A. Shchusev) costs UAH 214 thousand , the Monastery cells (1771-1780) cost UAH 261 thousand , the bishop’s chamber costs UAH 185 thousand . And the offer of the month is the Nadbramnyi Building (1835): only UAH 78 thousand,” said Barna.
Stepan Barna reminded that a similar bill of the party of Regions’s reps, Shentsev and But was withdrawn from the Parliament under the pressure of the public.
“Then, we gathered over 100 thousand signatures demanding to withdraw the bill from consideration. Today, we again start the struggle against the new anti-Ukrainian initiative of the reps of Party of Regions and Communists, including gathering of signatures and protest actions,” noted Barna.
