Let’s build our places of worship together!

An initiative warmly to be welcomed!  Very many Ukrainians have been appalled by the difficulties encountered by Crimean Muslims who have long been trying to build a Soborna or Assembly Mosque  - Dzhuma – Dzhami – in Simferopol.

As reported here already, the Spiritual Directorate of Crimean Muslims submitted all applications and documents for permission to build on Yaltynska St in Simferopol almost three years ago.  This entailed considerable effort, and cost around 70 thousand US dollars.  The Simferopol City Council had previously given permission to build the Soborna Mosque, yet then at its session on 10 January 2008 it passed a decision to change the location, allocating a different site.

There was considerable protest, including from the Crimean Prosecutor and justice finally prevailed with the courts upholding the rights to the Muslim community which is shortly to begin building the Soborna Mosque on the land originally agreed.

The Mejilis of the Crimean Tatar people, together with the Spiritual Directorate of Muslims, had refused to give in and called on Muslims and other residents of the Crimea to bring one stone each for the Mosque.  The number received was impressive.

It is not only Muslims who experience difficulties in the Crimea, with Simferopol parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church encountering no less problems. They have also been asking the authorities for years now to be allocated land to build their churches. However the officials are all too crafty and good at saying no, leaving the spiritual fathers and parishes to rely on the grace of God and their own efforts.

However all of us, concerned citizens, Ukrainian patriots can help residents of the Crimea of different nationalities and different faiths. Using the Internet, the post or branches of any bank you can make your donation towards the building in Simferopol of a Muslim Mosque and Christian Churches. 

The details for bank transfers can be found in Ukrainian here: http://maidan.org.ua/static/viol/1211996936.html

The problem we have discovered is that only one of the communities has an account for foreign currency donations, and it doesn’t seem fair to give only one.

If anybody reading this would like to make a donation, please drop a line to [email protected] and we can try to put you in touch with the community.