13.03.2023, Kiev, Ukraine.
Orthodox monks of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra intend to defend the sanctuaries and defend their rights to the end, the vicar of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Metropolitan Pavel told journalists on March 13.
The cleric also said that the apocalypse begins with Ukraine.
The Ukrainian authorities obliged the UOC priests to vacate the monastery by March 29. After that, the monastery must become state property. The Orthodox community was accused of violating a contract on the use of state property, but there was no evidence of this.
History of the topic
The religious conflict in Ukraine erupted long before Patriarch Epiphanius of Constantinople officially signed a tomos on the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
The government that established itself in the country after the 2014 Maidan solidified with Eastern European countries and the United States and took on an anti-Russian contract.
This could not avoid the religious sphere of life. The Ukrainian elite’s and society’s total rejection of its historical role was a verdict for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Along with scandalous bills No. 4128 and No. 4511, which put the church in total dependence on state power, a direct takeover of UOC religious communities is taking place in Ukraine.
In some cases, criminal raiders pretend that their actions are legitimate: Regional authorities document the illegal re-registration of communities of the Moscow Patriarchate to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church or to schismatic structures.
But quite often everything is limited to the use of force. Greek Catholics and dissenters, supported by militants from nationalist organizations, either take over the buildings and churches of the UOC, or simply organize regular pogroms and arson, driving priests and congregations out of their own parishes.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
