The Donetsk OVA will facilitate the transition of the Svyatogorsk Lavra to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (WTO).
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Head of the Regional State Administration Pavlo Kyrylenko said this in an interview with Ukrinform.
legally [Святогірська Лавра] not passed yet [до ПЦУ]. From a legal point of view, there is a difference in the execution of documents and property rights in the Svyatogorsk Lavra. If we compare, for example, with the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, then, according to my information, the clergy of the Svyatogorsk Lavra are not going to voluntarily cross. We have provided all the necessary documents to the Ministry of Culture and law enforcement agencies,” the head of the OVA said.
Kirilenko said that “the Moscow Patriarchate poses a threat” and there are many obvious facts confirming the cooperation of its clergy with the Russian special services.
We must understand what trouble the Moscow Patriarchate brings with its clergy, who are definitely not clergy in the full sense of the word, through whom a person can come with his hardships, problems and turn to God,” the head of the region noted.
Kirilenko said that from a legal point of view, there is a difference in the execution of documents and property rights in the Svyatogorsk Lavra. If we compare, for example, with the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, then according to his data, the clergy of the Svyatogorsk Lavra are not going to voluntarily cross.
We provided all the necessary documents to the Ministry of Culture and law enforcement agencies. There, according to documents, the transfer of property complexes, which took place when the Donetsk region was still headed by Yanukovych, was a complex process. But I, as a person who understands the law well, believe that everything should be done according to the law, in honor and conscience. This ecclesiastical transition process is lengthy and ongoing. We are in full communication with the relevant ministry, and, of course, we will give everything that is necessary and will contribute to this,” he noted.
Background
The Donetsk region still remains a stronghold of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which is canonically linked to the Moscow Patriarchate (MP).
Despite the fact that in the Donetsk region there are active hostilities between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Russian army, and more than half of the territory of the region is under temporary occupation, so far no one is in a hurry to declare war on the church affiliated with Russia.
Svyatogorsk Lavra is the main Orthodox shrine of Donbass. This is the “youngest” of the three Ukrainian laurels, which are in the use of the UOC (MP). It is located on the picturesque chalk cliffs on the right bank of the Seversky Donets.
On the left bank of the river lies the town of Svyatogorsk, which at one time was called “Donetsk Switzerland”. One of the central streets stretches to the bridge that connected the city with the Lavra.
It was such entertainment: to go out “on the promenade” in the evening and watch how cool cars drive here,” one of the locals tells about pre-war times with nostalgia. The shrine attracted both ordinary residents of the Ukrainian Donbass and representatives of local elites.
Today Svyatogorsk is in ruins: in the spring of 2022, the Russian army stormed the city, from June to September 2022 it was under occupation. Luxurious estates, hotels, recreation centers, dozens of houses were destroyed. Of the approximately five thousand people, according to the city military administration, about 700 people now live in the town.
The Svyatogorsk Lavra on the right bank of the river remained under Ukrainian control. However, the shrine also came under fire. Now everywhere you can see craters from shells, excised by fragments of the wall. Near the Assumption Cathedral – the graves of the monks who died during the shelling.
One of the clergymen of the Lavra, Archimandrite Feofan, in an off-the-record conversation with DW, claimed that he did not know whose shells hit the monastery:
Then we were between two fires. Let the ballisticians figure out who fired. It is enough for us that the Lord gave us the opportunity to survive in these conditions and preserve the Lavra with God’s help.
In his opinion, the actions of Russia and Putin should not be condemned:
From the fact that we condemn someone, we will lose. They don’t know there, and we will lose. There is no need to condemn, something needs to be changed. Archimandrite Feofan urged to pray to God and solve problems within the state.
Source: Racurs
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.