Kiev, December 25, 2020
Phot: Kiev Caves Lavra (YouTube)
The schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” continues to fixate on the idea of taking the most sacred sites in Ukraine away from the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church—the Kiev Caves Lavra and the Pochaev Lavra.
OCU figures have made numerous statements to this effect, and there were governmental moves in this direction under the rule of Petro Poroshenko, though, for the time being, the Lavras continue to be at the disposal of the canonical Church. Both sites are, unfortunately, owned by the state of Ukraine.
Epiphany Dumenko, the primate of the illegitimate OCU, raised the issue again on his Facebook page yesterday, at the same time that there are reports that the government is already looking to give at least one church from the Kiev Caves Lavra to the OCU.
“Unfortunately, the holy sites of the Ukrainian people, such as the Pochaev and Kiev-Caves Lavras, are under the control of those who have their own leadership center in the aggressor country [Russia—OC],” Epiphany lamented.
“However, it depends on the state whether to transfer them to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine or not,” he noted.
Ironically, he continues: “We do not want hostility and confrontations, only justice and peace, but sooner or later this issue must be resolved peacefully.”
Hundreds of churches throughout Ukraine have been violently seized by adherents of the Epiphany’s OCU. Hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and laity, including old women, have been physically assaulted during these raids. Most recently, 50-100 armed schismatics failed to seize the Holy Dormition Church in the village of Mikhalcha, though the OCU diocese praised and encouraged the raiders as brave soldiers.
Several criminal cases have even been opened against these “soldiers.”
“And we, as a church, are taking the necessary steps to ensure that this does not fade into oblivion,” Epiphany concluded.
Against this background, the Pravblog Telegram channel of Orthodox analysts reports that, according to its sources in the Ministry of Culture, a few weeks ago, the Ministry sent a letter to the management of the National Kiev Caves Historical-Cultural Reserve with a request to consider transferring one of the churches of the Kiev Caves Lavra to the use of the OCU.
Pravblog comments:
In our opinion, this request is a “trial balloon” aimed at tracking the reaction of all interested parties. Most likely, more substantial steps in this direction should be expected closer to the date of Patriarch Bartholomew’s arrival in Ukraine (although the processes could accelerate if the Phanar decides at the January session of its Synod to recognize the OCU as the “only canonical Church” in Ukraine.
As OrthoChristian reported last week, Constantinople is reportedly planning to declare the OCU the only canonical church in Ukraine and to even suspend all the hierarchs of the canonical Church under His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine.
The canonical Church is expecting increased pressure and persecution from the state and schismatics in the lead-up to Pat. Bartholomew’s planned visit next August, especially as President Zelensky pivots towards Poroshenko’s pro-schismatic policies.
Met. Onuphry most recently sounded the alarm at the annual meeting of the Kiev Diocese, calling on the clergy and people to arm themselves with prayer.
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