Ternopil Province, Ukraine, August 29, 2022
vidviday.ua
Deputies of the western Ukrainian Ternopil Province are trying to get the Ukrainian Orthodox Church kicked out of the Holy Dormition-Pochaev Lavra.
The local authorities appealed to the Verkhovna Rada in Kiev with a demand to break the agreement that allows the Church to occupy and use the monastery.
Legally, the monastery is a national park belonging to the government, and local authorities have been trying for years to deprive the monks of their historical home.
In a video published on Friday, the head of the Ternopil Provincial Council Mikhail Golovko says the deputies wrote an appeal to the Ukrainian Parliament “regarding the activities of the Moscow Patriarchate,” which they unanimously voted for.
“We hope they’ll hear us, that the Verkhovna Rada, the Cabinet of Ministers will hear us about terminating the agreement with Pochaev, about those premises that the Moscow Patriarchate rents in our park. The Lavra is a national park,” Golovko said.
This announcement comes at the same time that nationalists and schismatics actively blocked the route of the annual pilgrimage to the Pochaev Lavra for the feast of the Dormition. The pilgrims were forced to take a longer route, but ultimately arrived at the monastery in time for the feast.
Golokvo held a meeting in July dedicated to doing everything possible to force Orthodox parishes into the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”
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