16.07.2007, [14:50] // Conflict // RISU.ORG.UA
Dnipropetrovsk — A conflict between the Roman Catholic Church of St. Joseph in eastern Ukrainian Dnipropetrovsk and representatives of Dugsberry Inc. continues. At about noon on 12 July 2007, a representative of Dugsberry, guards of the Typhoon firm, and workmen came to the church building to erect a fence around the church.
The parishioners have prayed on the stairs of the church for its return 24 hours a day for the last week. maidan.org.ua reports that the purpose of the Dugsberry visit was to erect a fence around the church, allegedly for the safety of the faithful and passers by. The representative of the company based in California, U.S., produced a permit to perform repair-reconstruction work mentioning a fire in May of this year as an argument.
But the fence alone was not enough for the formal owner of the building who is, reportedly, very concerned over the fate of the parishioners. He demanded that the Catholics stop praying there and go away. The police, called by the pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish, confirmed the legitimacy of the presence of the Catholics there.
According to maidan.org.ua, the Dnipropetrovsk Catholics have not lost their sense of humor. They joke with each other, saying that Dugsberry should install check-points and passport control in the central avenue of the city to keep the Catholics even farther from the shrine. But before that happens they will continue to pray now in front of the fence surrounding their church.
As reported earlier, court proceedings regarding the Church of St. Joseph on Karl Marx Prospect continue. The Roman Catholic parish in Dnipropetrovsk, which considers itself the rightful owner of the church building, seeks to recover it by court proceedings from the ownership of the American company Dugsberry Inc. associated in the media with former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko.
The Roman Catholics state that the church was privatized in 1998 unlawfully and that the present owner does not keep it in proper condition.
Source and previous related RISU news:
• http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/news/article;16584/