The vicar of the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavlo (Lebid) called on President Volodymyr Zelensky not to take away from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (in unity with the Moscow Patriarchate) the temples located on Lavra premises, which are being leased from the state.
In particular, this is about the Dormition Cathedral and the Tabernacle Church.
According to Metropolitan Pavlo, their lease expires on December 31. This is the last day when the UOC (MP) will leade the service there.
According to Pavlo, he was informed about this on December 26 by the chief of the state reserve Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. The state in the person of the Reserve is the owner of all Lavra premises.
The vicar recorded a video appeal in which he complained that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP) did not receive a written notice of the termination of lease from January 1.
Metropolitan Pavlo also said that he appealed to Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko, but received no response.
Metropolitan Pavlo called on President Zelensky to “protect” the UOC (MP), namely, to call on the government and deputies not to make a decision on terminating the lease of the Lavra churches.
“People are starving in the cold and without light. And now you want to take away faith from people? Don’t do this. We do not meddle in politics or economy. We simply ask that the Lord preserve our church in the state,” said the clergyman.
“We live in times like 1917. There is only one thing left is to start killing priests, bishops, and believers,” Pavlo added.
He also asked that “people who are not related to the church not tell us when to celebrate Christmas and which church to go to.”
It should be recalled that earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky ordered state authorities to study the extent to which the UOC remains connected with the Russian Orthodox Church, to prohibit the activity of Moscow-affiliated churches in Ukraine by a special law, and also to vet the grounds for the use of buildings within the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. The president also imposed sanctions against the leadership of the UOC (MP) at the motion of the National Security and Defense Council and SBU.
Since mid-November, the SBU has been raiding dioceses of the UOC (MP) across Ukraine. Law enforcement operatives say they are looking for banned items (usually Russian literature and Russian instructions, as well as weapons), foreign nationals and saboteurs who are hiding there. They are also interrogating some clergymen.
