Uniate media are preparing the ground for seizure of Pochaev Lavra?

The news portal "Za Zbruchem" stated that the Pochaev Holy Assumption Lavra was "seized by the Moscow Patriarchate" and "controlled" by the Russian Orthodox Church. The occasion for such a declaration was the 195th anniversary of the consecration of the Lavra’s Assumption Cathedral of by the Uniate Exarch in 1822. The publication was disseminated by the Greek Catholic edition of RISU.

According to the portal, the Pochaev Lavra was mainly set up by Uniates, but in 1831, "after the monarchy came to Western Ukraine," the monastery was allegedly "seized by the Moscow Patriarchate (ROC), under whose control it is today."

Journalists of the Internet publication, referring to unnamed historians, believe that "Pochaev Lavra has since become a stronghold of the Russification of the region," in particular stressing that Nicholas II "is considered a saint in the monastery."

In addition, the publication recalls that the Pochaev Lavra was transferred to a free lease of the "UOC-MP" until 2052.

The clergy of the UGCC have repeatedly declared their rights to the Pochaev Lavra, motivating their claims by the fact that in the 18th and early 19th centuries the Lavra belonged to the Uniates.

In 2012, the monks of the Uniate Order of Vasilyan, as well as hegumen of the Buchach Basilian monastery Ivan Maikovich expressed the opinion that the UGCC can claim the Pochayiv Lavra along with the Orthodox.

"We want to tell people and the world that this shrine used to belong to us," the Uniate priest said at the time. According to him, the Pochaev Lavra belonged to the Greek Catholics for more than 100 years, and most of its buildings were built by Catholics of the Eastern Rite. "The Lavra was not returned to us, because the speech here is not so much about restoring law and justice, as about politics," Ivan Maikovich said.

In response to these claims, deputy head of the DECR UOC, Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich stressed that "the Pochaev Lavra was founded around 1240 as an Orthodox monastery, which has been so up to now. For more than 770 years of its existence, only 110 years (1721-1831) the Lavra was in the hands of Greek Catholics. However, this in no way is the reason for the Greek Catholics to regard this holy place as their own. Yes, there was such a historical period. But if we follow the logical pattern of Uniates, we can say for instance that today's Greek-Catholic Cathedral of St. George in Lvov from 1946 to 1990 belonged to the Orthodox Church."

Read also