The head of the foreign relations department of the OCU, Archbishop of Chernigov and Nizhyn Evstratiy (Ivan Zorya), noted that the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is registered as a monastery as part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
He explained that a legal entity is registered in the Lavra that “can take property – temples and buildings” and will create “the possibility for monks and believers – to choose whom to follow.” Yevstratiy explained that data on legal personality as part of the OCU appeared in the state register on December 2.
False start
But soon the head of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, Alexander Tkachenko, denied during the telethon that the laurel was transferred to the OCU. He explained that President Zelensky had set aside two months to determine the legality of the UOC’s stay in the monastery and to make “specific decisions” accordingly.
Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC), confirmed that Kiev has not yet made a decision on the transfer of the Lavra.
Lavra is the property of all people. I have not seen the state give the opportunity to use the buildings. Anyone can register a public body at any address, but with the consent of the owner. Neither the Council of Ministers nor anyone else has accepted such documents.
catching Lavra
The representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, said on the Telegram channel that there is preparation for the capture of the situation in the Lavra.
The PRC also denied the transfer of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra to the OCU. Archbishop Nikolai Balashov, adviser to the Moscow and All-Russian Patriarch Kirill, said that the charter of the “parallel” monastery of the OCU “Kiev-Pechersk Lavra” has been registered in Ukraine and that its representatives will lay claim to one of the temples. of the upper Lavra.
The charter of the “parallel” monastery of the “OCU “Kiev-Pechersk Lavra” was registered. The schismatics filed it for the record a long time ago. They will now lay claim to one of the temples and “a room for monastic activity” in the upper Lavra, which is officially under the jurisdiction of the Kiev-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Reserve, according to OCU spokesman Ivan Zori. ” he told Interfax.
Balashov stated that all this does not cancel the registration of the Lavra and that “faster decisions can be made”.
Vladimir Legoyda, Head of the Synodal Department of the Church’s Relations with the Society and the Media of the Moscow Patriarchate Wrote He said on his Telegram channel that information about the registration of a legal entity applying for a laurel is part of a campaign to intimidate and put pressure on the canonical UOC.
“Systematic acts of intimidation – searches, detentions, provocations, threats of the highest order – are part of a phased campaign aimed at creating the illusion of undermining people’s trust in the canonical Church to justify subsequent lawlessness. The beneficiaries, then and now, by the way, in both cases “legalized” schismatics by Phanar (Istanbul Patriarchate. – socialbites.ca),” wrote Legoyda.
Sanctions and searches
On December 2, the SBU announced that the UOC continues to conduct searches at its facilities in the Zhytomyr, Rivne and Zakarpattia regions. On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky banned the activities of religious organizations affiliated to the centers of influence in Russia in the country, and a decree was signed that put the NSDC decision into effect. The National Security and Defense Council also instructed to check the legality of the use of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra property.
The National Security and Defense Council also imposed sanctions against UOC clergy, including the priest of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel, Ukrayinska Pravda reported. It was noted that 10 priests of the UOC, as well as a Ukrainian businessman and former deputy of the Rada, Vadim Novinsky, entered the restrictions. The newspaper noted that the sanction decision was made on December 1 after the National Security and Defense Council evaluated “to prevent the activities of religious organizations in the territory of Ukraine in the context of Russia’s military aggression and to prevent division in society along religious lines”. “
Searches in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra were reported by Strana.ua on 22 November. Later, the SBU wrote on its Telegram channel that it was conducting counterintelligence activities in the Lavra “to counter the subversive activities of the Russian special services”. They aim, among other things, to prevent the Lavra from being used “as a cell of the Russian world.”