Kiev, April 4, 2023
Photo: pochaevlavra.org
While the state continues to drive the monks out of the Kiev Caves Lavra, Parliamentary Deputies of the Verkhovna Rada also have their sights on the Lavra in Pochaev again.
The Lavras are the most beloved and most important holy sites in all of Ukraine. Of course, this is far from the first time Deputies have taken aim at the monasteries. Among the more recent attempts, a bill was submitted in September to evict the Orthodox Church from both Lavras and to transfer them to the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”
The state did begin evicting the monks from the Kiev Caves Lavra at the end of last year by presidential decree, and though they were supposed to be completely out by March 29, Ukrainians with faith in Jesus Christ have flocked to the monastery by the thousands every day since to protect it from the state.
And yesterday, more than 3 dozen deputies registered a draft bill, “On the appeal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the Cabinet of Ministers on the termination of the lease agreement for the Holy Dormition-Pochaev Lavra with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.”
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has repeatedly testified, and its governing documents prove that it has been administered entirely from Kiev for the past 30 years and that it completely separated itself from the Moscow Patriarchate last May. The schismatics and nationalists and their supporters continue to conflate the UOC and the Moscow Patriarchate to incite religious enmity and to further the persecution of millions of Ukrainian Orthodox Christians.
In February, the local Ternopil Provincial Council created a commission to study the legality of the Church’s use of the Pochaev Lavra. The group openly admits that its goal is not to conduct an unbiased examination, but to find a reason to kick the Church out.
Recall that both Lavras are legally considered state-owned museums, in continuation of Soviet practice.
In March, the Council resolved to call on the Prime Minister and Minister of Culture to break the 2003 lease with the Church, although it is valid until 2052. Later that month, police blocked the faithful from getting to the Lavra and even kicked women and children off their pilgrimage buses. Then the schismatics created their own “Pochaev Lavra” on paper, just as they had done with their own “Kiev Caves Lavra” last year.
Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!
