UOC monks demand postponement of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra eviction until after court hearings

“We asked to be allowed to live on fast days and Easter days for another month and a half,” he said, adding that they had not received a response. He drew attention to the fact that the termination of the lease contract between the monks and the museum-reserve is impossible unilaterally, a court decision is necessary. “The law is on our side. We will stay in Lavra until the end of the trial. We have a long-term contract,” Metropolitan Pavel said.
“But, as we can see, the judges are prohibited from considering our request,” the governor said, pointing out that the three judges who were to consider the monks’ request had filed a disclaimer.According to the Metropolitan, he held a meeting with representatives of the Ukrainian authorities, but they offered him a compromise contrary to the interests of the church, and he was forced to refuse. He fears that if the monks leave the monastery now, but leave their possessions there, as suggested, they will be confiscated by the Kiev regime.Meanwhile, the head of the synodal information and education department of the canonical UOC, Bishop Kliment, said there was no legal basis for the expulsion of the monks from Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. . “There is not a single document that would require us to leave the monastery today. There are documents indicating that the contract should supposedly end on the 29th, but all legal relations, if there are problems, are solved in court”, its publication quotes “Strana.ua”.As transmits RIA News , at present, a large number of believers have gathered near the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Priests confess and communicate people in the open air.