UOC clergy and parishioners record a video appeal in defence of Kyiv Lavra

A religious procession at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Photo: lavra.ua

Clerics and parishioners of a number of eparchies of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church recorded a video appeal to the authorities not to take away the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. The video was published on its Telegram channel by the public union "Myriany".

"We ask that the agreement on the lease of the Lower Lavra by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church be continued," the appeal reads. “As far back as the Middle Ages, the Lavra was a centre of Orthodoxy and remains today a centre of pilgrimage for Orthodox Christians. At the time of militant atheism, the Lavra fell into disrepair. It was the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that rebuilt this holy monastery in 1988. Nowadays golden domes shine majestically in the place of ruins. The clergy and monks of the Lavra work hard every day to maintain order in the monastery. That is why we consider it unjust to take away the permission for the UOC clergy to serve in this holy place. Let the lamp of prayer continue to burn here so that the faithful can freely come here to receive Holy Communion and worship the Kyiv Caves saints.

According to the believers, the relics of saints are not "museum exhibits" anywhere in the world: "Just imagine that in Italy the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker were made an "exhibit" or in Jerusalem the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was closed off from people and made a museum."

Parishioners of the UOC reminded that "a hundred years ago, Orthodox Christians in our territory were already going through similar trials, and it did not lead to the good for the God-fighters”.

"Don't take the Lavra from us. You will take away the walls but not the faith," the appeal stressed.

The clergy and believers from the Volodymyr-Volynsky, Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Odesa, Rivne, Sarny, Ternopil, and Chernivtsy-Bukovyna eparchies of the UOC, as well as from Poland, participated in the video recording.

As reported, Orthodox Christians from the USA, European countries and Ukraine spoke out in support of the Kyiv Caves monks and called on the Ukrainian authorities to stop the persecution of the Church.

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