Media: Birth of single Local Chucrh in Ukraine brings fear of violence

Provocations at the walls of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

The birth of the new Ukrainian Church raises deep concern about what will happen to UOC churches, writes the New York Times, citing the Associated Press.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who has hailed the creation of the full Ukrainian church as "a guarantee of our spiritual freedom," has pledged that there will be no action taken against parishes that choose to remain under the Moscow Patriarchate. 

“But some Ukrainian nationalists appear ready to use force,” writes AP, referring to the events that took place in Kiev during the celebration of the Protection of the Virgin.

“The rough-looking young men brought clubs and brass knuckles to the Pechersk Monastery in Kiev, one of Orthodox Christianity's most important pilgrimage sites, apparently seeking to disrupt worship. Police spread-eagled them against a wall decorated in faded centuries-old frescos of solemn saints, then hauled them away. On the other side of the dispute, at a small church in the center of Kiev, a dozen men organized round-the-clock guard duty, worried that nationalist radicals might make their third attempt in a year to seize the place of worship,” says the article.

The publication emphasizes points out that “the imminent creation of the new Ukrainian church raises deep concerns about what will happen to the approximately 12,000 churches in Ukraine that are now under the Moscow Patriarchate”.

“With such passions on both sides, the cleric feared that more violence between the two uneasy neighbors lay ahead,” concludes the Associated Press.

As the UOJ reported, a petition demanding to cancel the order of the authorities on the transfer of the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra to the UOC was registered on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers. Also, the abbot of the Pochaev Lavra Metropolitan Vladimir reported threats against the monastery and asked for prayer support, calling, if necessary, to protect the shrine.

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