Lavra abbot: We are tried for not accepting those who commit lawlessness

Abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel. Photo: lavra.ua

Hierarchs and believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are currently being persecuted not for their political activities but because they refuse to comply with the authorities' demands to "accept schismatics and heretics who commit lawlessness". This was stated by the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel, before the hearing at the Solomiansky District Court, where the question of tightening the measure of restraint against him is being considered.

The hierarch expressed his gratitude to the believers who came to support him.

"I ask you to continue supporting me, Bishop Theodosiy, Victoria Kokhanovska, Bishop Iosaph, who has also undergone trials, and all those who suffer today from the people who persecute the Church, who commit lawlessness and seize churches," said Metropolitan Pavel.

According to him, the current persecutions will surely come to an end, and when the Lord comes, He will call the persecutors to account.

"Today we ask the Lord to put an obstacle to evil, to soften the hearts of those who harbour ill will towards us. We have nothing to divide; we all should be united by one desire: to defeat the enemy," the bishop emphasized.

He stressed that the accusations brought against him are groundless, and he has "never sowed enmity towards other denominations".

Addressing believers of other denominations, the hierarch warned them that the forces that "want to see Ukraine without God" will turn their attention to them after the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. "They started with us, but they will surely end with you. Remember 1918, 1937, how they persecuted Muslims, how they expelled and killed Jews, how they persecuted and destroyed Orthodox, Protestants, and Catholics in Siberia," the bishop noted.

As reported, the SBU has informed Metropolitan Pavel about a new suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code: Part 2 of Article 161 (violation of the equality of citizens based on their religious beliefs, committed by an official repeatedly) and Part 3 of Article 436-2 (justification, recognition as legitimate, denial of armed aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, committed by an official repeatedly).

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