The Roman Catholic Parish of St.Joseph

Today the Roman-Catholic parish of Dnipropetrovsk has closed the chapter on its longstanding struggle for the St.Joseph’s church. This day the Economic Court of Appeal of Dnipropetrovsk has confirmed the proprietary right to the building of the church and has upheld the decision of the Economic Court of Appeal of Dnipropetrovsk d.d. 25.06.2009 about returning of the temple to the Roman-Catholic parish of St.Joseph.

During the court session the judicial disposition was pronounced. On Tuesday the Court will give full text of the decree to both parties, and then the parish will be able to use its proprietary right to the building of the church.

“The judicial process was within the law in the investigation of the case. The proprietary right was adjudged for the parish”, Vasil Shurpinov, the lawyer of the parish, added up the court session.

About 40 persons became the witnesses of the historical decree. Among of them were priests, monks, parishioners and journalists. The court judgment got a big hand. The parishioners offered each other the congratulations on the victory and then prayed near the temple.

Thank everybody, who was praying with us, thank all the journalists, who told about the problem of our church!

The prior br.Kazimir, OFMCap

Yesterday we celebrated victory of the truth in Superior Economic Court in Kyiv, which didn’t confirm ownership right of the California company “Dugsbery, Inc”. Today a miserable event darkened our joy.

We want to inform with great pain about sacrilege, which was made with the Crucifixion in front of the building of the Roman-Catholic church in Dnipropetrovsk. On the night of the 20th of February, 2009 some unknown persons turned the Cross, that was settled on the place of prayerful meetings. The Cross was outside of the pavement and didn’t stand in passers’-by way. Only spiritually blind people, disposed aggressively to all sacred things, could venture to do such an act, which is considered as an act of vandalism in all societies. That’s why we apprehend it as humiliation of our religious feelings and a sign of disrespect to the Roman-Catholic Church.

The Roman-Catholic parish is going to apply with a official letter to the public prosecutor of Dnipropetrovsk region, to the Administration of home affairs of Dnipropetrovsk and to the Governor with a petition about protection and investigation of those people, who are guilty of sacrilege.

In the evening the believers are going to meet near the Cross fo penitence pray.

The press-service of the parish

On July, 27 the Roman Catholic Parish of St.Joseph will hold an anniversary of the public prayers for returning of the Catholic Church building in Dnipropetrovsk. A year ago at the day of Maria Our Lady of Perpetual Help some parishioners found the door of the temple opened. It was a beginning of new stage of the long standing struggle for returning of the cultic building to the Dnipropetrovsk Roman Catholic communite.

Last summer the Catholic temple was illegally demolished by its actual owner - the American company “Dugsbery Inc.” In order to save the building from complete destruction and to return it to the Catholics of Dnipropetrovsk the parishioners began the continuous public prayers near the church. They have been going on to pray up to now.