Monks of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra of the Canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) refuse to leave the monastery at the request of the museum-reserve subordinate to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine. About it on Lavra’s YouTube channel informed its rector, Metropolitan Pavel.
“We have no intention of moving and we won’t. We are not against all legal actions, but there should not be any illegal ones. We are <...> citizens of our country, we are people who have lived here (in Lavra monastery) since 1988, many of us have no other place but this,” he said in his video message. .According to the Abbot, the Lavra monks began to receive death threats if they refused to leave the monastery.The order of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Museum-Reserve became known last week, when the corresponding document signed by the acting director general of the organization, printed on the letterhead of the Ministry of Culture of 'Ukraine, was published on the website of the monastery.This warning stated that the monks of the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra of the UOC must vacate the monastery by March 29, as the museum-reserve is terminating the rental agreement due to alleged violations found there.The document states that a special working group established by decree of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in accordance with the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) has been engaged in the search for these violations.The head of Ukraine's Culture Ministry, Oleksandr Tkachenko, announced on March 11 that after the monks left, a commission from the department would arrive at the Lavra to audit the "museum exhibits," including the relics of the saints that are there. are stored. .In December, Metropolitan Pavel appealed to Zelenskyyy with a request not to remove two churches from the UOC – the Assumption Cathedral and the Refectory Church.In November, the SBU carried out searches in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and several other churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Subsequently, the security forces reported finding "pro-Russian literature" used in the teaching of the seminary and parochial schools, "including for the propaganda of the 'Russian world'", as well as cash for a total amount of more than 2 million hryvnias.
