Ministry of Culture: Part of the Lavra brethren has joined OCU

Brethren of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra at prayer standing. Photo: UOJ

Maxym Ostapenko, acting director of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Reserve, announced on the air of Channel 5 about the transfer of the Lavra brethren to the OCU.

“I think you know that some of the monks have moved to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” Ostapenko said, “these are official steps.”

According to the official, in the Lavra "there are monks who are not just declaring but really trying to take steps towards civil society, those fighters who need rehabilitation, towards the preservation of Ukrainian shrines."

Ostapenko said that “the commission is now working, and there is an understanding that it is precisely those shrines that are preserved in the Lavra that they need to be preserved for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. And the clergy are ready to join this.”

“There were certain encroachments on relics. And although it has not been fully confirmed, everyone knows that there were attempts to export the exhibits, which must be prevented precisely through state control,” Ostapenko said.

The official said that "all these items should be used specifically for spiritual rites, for Orthodox practices that are performed in caves and churches located within the monastery."

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the Reserve discussed with the military the transfer of the buildings of the Lower Lavra to the AFU.

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