One of the priests of the Moscow Patriarchate in the territory of the Lavra said that Donbass is said to be the first to “bomb the Ukrainians.”
Today, the last formal service of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate took place in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Law enforcement officers are afraid of clashes or confrontations, but the prayer service is relatively calm. Believers are only affected by journalists.
Recall that on March 10, the National Reserve of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra terminated the agreement on the free use of buildings and other property with the UOC-MP Monastery. Priests and monks have 20 days to leave. That is, on March 30, they should no longer be in the Lavra.
But today, Metropolitan Pavel (Lebed), in a sermon, told the believers that “we remain in the Lavra.” Moreover, neither the monks nor the parishioners today had any indication that the priests would leave the reserve.
Awaiting court decision
From the very morning, believers began to gather in the lower territory of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, where the boxer Oleksandr Usyk, and Bishop Pavel at the same time published an annoying statement in which he clearly said that no one leaves the reserve without a court decision.
He added that the UOC filed the case on March 23 and announced the removal of the three judges.
According to Pavel, the monastery leadership received a letter the day before. In it, the National Reserve announced that on March 30, a state commission on the issues of receiving and transferring property to a state institution begins work on the territory of the Lavra. Until then, the monks must leave the area.
“We inform everyone that the brothers of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra do not intend to leave the monastery without the corresponding decision of the court and the provision of the approved composition of the commission on the issues of acceptance and transfer of property to an institution of state,” said the metropolitan.
History with Pavel’s passport
It should be noted that the day before, Vladyka was noticed in one of the passport service centers of Kyiv, where he applied for a passport. Now, in a sermon on the territory of the Lavra, Paul got into a fight with journalists because of this.
In a comment on Radio Liberty, the metropolitan called journalists “slanderers”, commenting, in particular, on the situation around the passport.
Pavel said he contacted the service center to report the alleged loss of his passport during searches.
“They (the media – ed.) wrote that I was leaving with my relatives. So who should I talk to in this case,” said Pavel.
Russian propaganda from the father
Today, not only the metropolitan quarreled with journalists, but also other clergy of the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate and parishioners. In particular, one of the priests began to broadcast theses of Kremlin propagandists that Russia allegedly did not launch a war in Donbass. The representative of the MP began to deny that the Russian invaders were in the Donbas since 2014. The priest complained about the Revolution of Dignity and the fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych.
“Why did Donbass rise up? Because Yanukovych cheated them,” he said.
In response to the journalist’s clarification that Donbass did not “come out”, but the Russians invaded its territory, the priest said that those areas were allegedly “bombed by Ukrainians.”
“Ukrainians were the first to bomb. Don’t talk about Donbass. Donbass doesn’t like Poroshenko, doesn’t like Maidan. What did Maidan give Ukraine? “Remember,” said the father.
And a parishioner of the UOC-MP, Victoria Kokhanovskaya, who calls herself a human rights activist, threatened to take the faithful to the streets for the expulsion of the Moscow Patriarchate from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
“God made it”
The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine however reminds the MP clergy that they must leave the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra on March 29. According to the head of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov, the law of the country will respect every Ukrainian without exception and it does not depend on whether a person goes to church and loves God.
“Second thing: about church matters, we don’t interfere there, but I want to note that the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is a state-owned museum. And everything related to this museum complex is decided by the state , and not by some individual people who for some reason decided that they will decide how to break our laws,” said Danilov.
At the same time, speaking about the MP monks, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council emphasized that “no one will be pulled off their feet or use violence.” Temples will continue to work with services, but according to Ukrainian laws, and not “artificial formations.”
“If you say that everything that happens in the world is the hand of God, think that it is the hand of God. You are not arguing with God. Such was the decision of God that on the 29th they left the monastery, went to another place” – said the head of the National Security and Defense Council.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.