Kiev, February 19, 2024
Photo: news.church.ua
On Friday, February 16, the press service of the Holy Dormition-Kiev Caves Lavra published a statement in response to a propagandistic report that Ukrainian authorities sent to the United Nations to justify and deny its persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
In its statement, the Lavra explains the government’s deceptions and describes the truth of the situation surrounding the Lavra and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as a whole.
On January 22, 2024, the state of Ukraine, represented by its ministries and agencies, responded to the communication statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Conscience and Religion, the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association regarding cases of violations of the rights of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, including:
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the issues pertaining to ownership of churches and buildings of the Kiev Caves Lavra;
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the existence of coercion or discriminatory influence upon the monks living at the Lavra;
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the legality, reasonableness, and necessity of taking decisions to deprive the Holy Dormition Monastery of the UOC of the right to use churches and other property;
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manifestations of hatred and the actual investigation into cases of violations of the rights of UOC believers by the law enforcement system of Ukraine.
Having examined the response by the ministries and agencies of Ukraine, we, the monks of the Holy Dormition Kiev Caves Lavra / Men’s Monastery / of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, cannot but conclude that this response contains inaccurate information, is incomplete, and attests attempts by the Government of Ukraine, represented by the relevant ministries, to conceal the facts of violations of the rights of believers of the UOC and to mislead members of the international community.
The assertions made by the state of Ukraine, represented by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, that the history of the use of the Kiev Caves Lavra (hereinafter also referred to as “the Lavra”) by the men’s monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (hereinafter also referred to as “the Monastery”) began in 2013, with the conclusion of the Agreement No. 2 of 19 July 2013 on the Free Use of Religious Buildings and Other State-Owned Property by a Religious Organization, are not true.
The Monastery has owned the Lavra, has been present thereat, and has been using its buildings not since 2013, but for about 1,000 years, since its founding in 1051 by the monks Anthony and Theodosius in the caves near the summer princely residence of Berestove near Kiev.
Only in the 20th century, in the times of the Soviet Union, was the Lavra transferred into state ownership under state acts.
The year 1988 became the year of the monastery’s revival, and in 1988 and in the 1990s, several legal acts were adopted to transfer the Lavra to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, with the right of the Church to restore, conserve, and repair the transferred buildings and structures, as well as to improve the territory whereon they are located. These permits have not been cancelled to date and are in force.
At the same time, it should be taken into account that all the legal acts on the transfer of property and agreements on the transfer of churches and other buildings to religious organizations of the UOC for free use were based on the principle of restitution (return) of Church property previously confiscated by the Soviet authorities.
In particular, this principle was enshrined in the Law of Ukraine “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations” of April 23, 1991. The presidential decree dated 4 March 1992 No. 125/92 “On Measures to Return Religious Property to Religious Organizations” provided for the transfer of religious buildings to religious communities throughout 1992-1993 in the form of ownership or free use.
Later, the Recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the Protection of the Property of Religious Communities No. 1556 (2002) suggested that religious institutions whose property had been nationalized in the past should be guaranteed restitution of this property within a certain period of time, or, if it was not possible, fair compensation, and that care should be taken to prevent the privatization of nationalized Church property (paragraph 8).
Thus, state bodies of Ukraine were obliged to take measures for transferring religious buildings and structures to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on an irreversible basis, as required by the principle of restitution, which, in turn, rules out depriving the Monastery of the Lavra, terminating the relevant use agreements, and returning the Lavra into state ownership.
Pursuant to Order No. 651 dated 16 July 2013 by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the National Kiev-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Preserve and the Holy Dormition Kiev Caves Lavra (Men’s Monastery) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church concluded Agreement No. 2 dated 19 July 2013 on the Free Use of Religious Buildings and Other State-Owned Property by a Religious Organization.
So, this Agreement was concluded before the restitution, before the return of the religious property into the ownership by the Monastery.
It means that the state of Ukraine was supposed to carry out restitution of church buildings and property, but instead entered into an indefinite Agreement on the use of the Lavra by the Monastery, and later not only initiated its unjustified termination, clearly on political motives, but also resorted to outright persecution of the UOC and all her organizations in Ukraine.
Thus, by Decree No. 820/2022 dated 1 December 2022 by the President of Ukraine, the decision by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine was enacted, according to which the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in general, and the Monastery in particular, were deliberately, without trial and investigation, recognized as religious organizations affiliated with centers of influence in the Russian Federation, as well as guilty of subversive activities. A specific task was set—to evict the monks from the Monastery, and this task began to be implemented.
The deprivation of the Monastery of the right to use the Lavra was accompanied by harassment of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in general and the Monastery in particular both in the mass media and by high-ranking officials and state bodies. They repeatedly and systematically made public statements such as that the UOC is an “enemy Moscow Church,” she has no place in Ukraine, and the Monastery should be freed from “Moscow priests.”
The Monastery is a Church institution at which a male community lives and operates, consisting of monastic men united by vows of chastity, selflessness, and obedience, who have devoted themselves to prayer, work, and devout life. Currently, 144 monks and 20 novices live in the monastery, and Ukrainian state bodies are trying to unlawfully evict them.
Draft laws to ban the activities of the UOC have been registered at the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (the Ukrainian Parliament).
On 1 December 2022, another religious denomination, the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” which is under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, registered a religious organization called “The Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra” as a monastery within the OCU. In January 2023, the authorities ensured that the first divine services of the OCU denomination were held at the Lavra’s Dormition Cathedral, which used to belong to the UOC Monastery. In February 2023, the authorities ensured that services of the OCU denomination were held at the Lavra’s Refectory Church, which also formerly belonged to the UOC Monastery. Officials of state bodies informed the mass media that divine services at the Lavra’s churches would thenceforth be allowed to be held by denominations upon approval and under the control of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy.
Seizures of UOC churches in favor of the OCU, including with the use of violence, which are, in fact, raider seizures, have already been going on for a few years, and the state does not respond to them in any way, but rather seems to encourage them.
In December 2022, personal sanctions were imposed on the Abbot of the Monastery, Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshhorod and Chornobyl (Petro Dmitrovich Lebed), without a court decision, in violation of the Constitution of Ukraine. He has been banned from using any assets and forbidden from carrying out a number of other actions, which effectively makes it impossible for him to properly perform his functions as Abbot.
Also, criminal proceedings No. 22021000000000185 of June 8, 2021 were initiated against Metropolitan Pavel for allegedly committing criminal offences under Part 3 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (justification of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine) and Part 2 of Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (incitement of religious enmity). The case No. 757/47508/23-k on bringing him to criminal responsibility is currently being considered by the Pechersk District Court of Kiev.
Despite the absence of reasonable suspicion of a criminal offence, Metropolitan Pavel was subjected to measures of restraint during the pre-trial investigation: round-the-clock house arrest (from 01 April 2023 to 14 July 2023), detention (from July 14, 2023 to August 7, 2023), and bail. At present, Metropolitan Pavel is under an obligation not to leave the settlement wherein he lives (the village of Voronkev, Kiev Province).
At the same time, similar reports from the UOC and the Monastery, filed in relation to numerous facts of obvious deliberate actions by members of the OCU, so-called “OCU activists,” and state and public figures aimed at inciting actual religious enmity and hatred, at humiliating national honor and dignity, and at insulting citizens’ feelings in respect to their religious convictions, as well as to facts of torture of people and commission of violent acts, are left without response and are not investigated by the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine. Such reports are often not even registered on the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations.
The above-mentioned Decree No. 820/2022 dated 1 December 2022 by the President of Ukraine also initiated a so-called “religious examination” (the methodology for which is not set forth in any legal act of Ukraine) concerning the UOC. Predictably, the UOC has been recognized as having ties with and controlled by the Moscow Patriarchate without any grounds. The results of this examination are presently being challenged in court.
The above actions of the state of Ukraine contradict a number of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter also referred to as “the ECHR”) on the inadmissibility of state interference in the activities of the Church and the inadmissibility of persecution of religious organizations and discrimination against some religious organizations in relation to others (Les témoins de Jéhovah de Moscou v. Russia; Centre biblique de la république de Tchouvachie v. Russia, § 54; Leela Förderkreis e. V. et al. v. Germany, § 84; Sviato-Mykhaïlivska Parafiya v. Ukraine, § 150; Lautsi et al. v. Italy [GC], § 60; Église métropolitaine de Bessarabie et al. v. Moldova, § 117; Vergos vs. Greece, § 34, and other cases).
Ukraine, while declaring its desire to join the European Union, does not comply with even the basic principles of the rule of law and does not implement judgments of the ECHR, which are a source of law in Ukraine.
The refusal of the state of Ukraine to extend the contractual relations for the use of the Lavra and the early termination of the Agreement in an attempt to evict the monks of the Monastery is a violation of the above-mentioned decisions of the ECHR, for the Monastery is the owner of the Lavra and has the right of “legitimate expectation” that the property use agreements will be prolonged as an integral part of the property right—until the issue of the restitution of this object and its return to the Monastery is resolved.
At present, court proceedings are underway to challenge the unlawful eviction of the Monastery from the Lavra, the court decisions have not come into effect, and the consideration of the appeals against them are ongoing.
Based on the foregoing, in connection with numerous violations of the right to freedom of conscience and religion in Ukraine and the discriminatory policies towards believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Holy Dormition Kiev Caves Lavra / Men’s Monastery / of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has decided to:
1. Publish this statement as a refutation of the information given by ministries and agencies of Ukraine on 22 January 2024, which was provided to the UN Special Rapporteurs as a response to their communication statement AL UKR 1/23.
2. Bring to the attention of the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of conscience and religion, the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association the position of the Holy Dormition Kiev Caves Lavra / Men’s Monastery / of Ukrainian Orthodox Church regarding the inaccurate and discriminatory nature of the information provided by the ministries and agencies of Ukraine.
3. Appeal to international human rights organizations, including the human rights association Church Against Xenophobia and Religious Discrimination and the non-governmental organization Public Advocacy with the initiative to organize an information campaign and legal proceedings for protecting the rights of the residents and believers of the Holy Dormition Kiev Caves Lavra / Men’s Monastery / of Ukrainian Orthodox Church at the international level, given the numerous facts of manifestations of hatred and of a systematic persecution of hierarchs and believers of the UOC and the ineffectiveness of the investigation by the law enforcement system of Ukraine into reports filed by clergymen and believers of the Holy Dormition Kiev Caves Lavra / Men’s Monastery / of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on offences committed against them.
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