Russian-linked church explains how it may be able to remain in Kyiv's Caves Monastery despite eviction order

Metropolitan Pavlo, the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves), has said that he and other clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) have the right to remain in the Lavra despite receiving an eviction notice, and do not intend to move out until the UOC-MP’s court case against the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve, where the monastery is located, is over.

Source: Metropolitan Pavlo; Unified State Register of Court Decisions

Quote: "On Tuesday we received a letter stating that the process of the Lavra's transfer to the state will begin on 30 [March], starting with the Church of St Agapetus.

The law is on our side. We will remain in the Lavra until the court case has been ruled on. We have a long-term agreement which cannot be terminated under martial law.

We have been offered a ‘compromise’ – that is, for His Beatitude [Metropolitan] Onufriy, the seminary, and me to move out from the Lavra. I said that one cannot abandon one’s cross, but has to be taken down from it.

We do not need ‘compromises’ like this. They want to take our Lavra, the Pochaiv Lavra [the Pochaiv Lavra of the Holy Dormition, or the Pochaiv Monastery, in Ternopil Oblast – ed.], and then move on to the convents."

Details: Metropolitan Pavlo said it was thanks to the prayers of UOC-MP clergy and parishioners that all of Ukraine’s presidents had become presidents.

On 29 March it was reported that the Kyiv City Commercial Court had received a lawsuit from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra of the Holy Dormition/Men's Monastery/UOC-MP.

The UOC-MP filed the lawsuit against the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve seeking the invalidation of the [unilateral] withdrawal from the agreement with the UOC-MP.

Previously: UOC-MP clergy have been asked to vacate the premises of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra by 29 March. Hundreds of believers gathered in the Lavra this morning. The UOC-MP clergy are refusing to leave the premises.

Background:

• Metropolitan Epiphanius of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has said that the monastery at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra will not be closed, and the language of services will be Old Church Slavonic, along with modern Ukrainian.
• In March 2023, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve terminated an agreement with the UOC-MP that allowed the church to use the premises of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra free of charge. UOC-MP clergy have been ordered to vacate all premises of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra by the end of March.
• Nearly 200 UOC-MP clergymen have been banned from entering Ukraine. Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council has imposed sanctions against UOC-MP and Russian Orthodox Church officials.
• As of 23 February 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine has investigated nearly 60 criminal cases brought against pro-Russian UOC-MP clergy; over 350 church buildings and 850 persons linked to the church have been subject to thorough checks and inspections. Ukrainian courts have handed down seven guilty verdicts.

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