Belyaevsky, Odessa Province, Ukraine, December 27, 2024
Photo: pravlife.info
Another priest of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been called up for military service and suddenly taken to a recruitment center.
Violations against Fr. Evgeny Rozhdestvensky of the Odessa Diocese of the UOC were reported on December 25 by his close relative Archpriest Nikolai Karpenko. Fr. Evgeny, who has health issues, is being forced into military service, Fr. Nikolai writes.
Fr. Evgeny was stopped and taken away on December 21, on his way home from the hospital where his wife had just given birth to their second child. His young daughter was in the car with him.
Fr. Nikolai writes:
On December 21, Fr. Evgeny … was driving with his younger daughter Nastya (1.6 years old) after visiting his wife in the maternity hospital where she had given birth to their second child, Ekaterina. During the journey through several checkpoints and document checks, he was listed in the system as being “in reserve.” However, when stopped at a mobile checkpoint, he was informed that he was wanted and was taken to the Belyaevsky military recruitment center. At the time of detention, his little daughter Nastya was in the car with her grandmother, and they had to spend the night near the recruitment center due to the curfew.
After a “difficult trial” at the Belyaevsky recruitment center, Fr. Evgeny underwent a medical examination which confirmed that his health condition didn’t meet the requirements for military service, as he has an injury from an accident (intracranial trauma). Despite this, he was sent for training in Vinnitsa, and when the same medical conditions were identified there, he was returned to the Belyaevsky recruitment center in the Odessa Province, after which he was transferred to Odessa, Rivne, the Kiev Province, and again to Rivne.
“Fr. Evgeny is currently in Rivne. His lawyers have submitted all the observations and violations that were identified during his detention and subsequent transfers to the appropriate authorities,” says Fr. Nikolai.
He notes that Fr. Evgeny has dedicated his life to serving God and people, and “can’t be forced into actions that go against his conscience and spiritual convictions.” According to the canons of the Orthodox Church, a clergyman must not spill blood.
More Ukrainian priests called up to the armyAs one UOC hierarch explained, the canons forbid clergy from participating in military activity.
“>OrthoChristian has reported on a number of canonical Ukrainian priests being forcefully mobilized.
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