– The parishioners who come to adore gather at Laure. They are not allowed inside, reads the message from the Union of Orthodox Journalists on their Telegram channel.
Earlier on Thursday, the union reported that a message had been received about “mining” of the Lavra, with law enforcement officers arriving on the scene.
- There was a message saying that the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was “mined”. Security forces stopped in Lavra and a fire truck arrived, – the Union of Orthodox Journalists reported on the events.
Recall that the monks of the Canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, who restored the monastery from ruin, received a unilateral notice of termination of the monastery rental agreement, they had to leave the Lavra on March 29. At the same time, Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said the monks could stay in the Lavra, provided they were transferred to the schismatic OCU.
However, the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel (Lebed), said that there could be no compromise on the Lavra, the brothers would stand until the end. He also said that it is impossible to unilaterally break the rental agreement for the Lavra buildings, a court decision is necessary. The lawsuit on the inadmissibility of the termination of the lease contract was filed with the Kiev Economic Court.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ have previously called the authorities’ order to the monks to leave the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra a “monstrous act”.
Over the past year, Ukrainian authorities have staged the largest wave of persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the country’s recent history. Ukraine’s Security Service has begun criminal proceedings against UOC clergy, carrying out “counter-intelligence activities” – searches of bishops and priests, in churches and monasteries, seeking evidence of “anti-Ukrainian activities”.
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