Filaret: After Maidan volunteer battalions suggest seizing Lavra for UOC-KP
Representatives of right radical organizations at the walls of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Photo: seraphim.com.ua
The head of the Kyiv Patriarchate Filaret Denisenko said in an interview with the “Apostrophe” edition that after Euromaidan he was approached by representatives of volunteer battalions with a proposal to seize the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
Answering a question about petitions, demanding to give the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra to the OCU, Filaret said that he is against the forcible seizure of the monastery.
Moreover, according to him, after Maidan "volunteer battalions approached him to seize the Lavra, evict everyone from there and hand it over to the Kyiv Patriarchate".
"I said then that they mustn’t do that and drag people by force into this or that church. Even Christ does not drag anyone into the Kingdom of God by force. The doors are open; if you want, go in; if you don’t want – stay outside the Kingdom of God. So is with the Church: if you want to be in the Kyiv Patriarchate, we will gladly accept you; but if you do not want to, we do not need you like that," said the head of the UOC CP.
Earlier the UOJ wrote that according to Filaret, the Galicians did not want to go to war in the Donbass, but after his call – they did.
Read also
Odessa Vicar Speaks on Whether the UOC Is Negotiating with the Phanar
The Archbishop of Artsyz stated that online publications about his negotiations with Patriarch Bartholomew are a lie.
In Kryvyi Rih, the main shrine of the region – the Turkovytsia Icon of the Mother of God – was venerated
On the feast day of the miraculous image of the Mother of God, Metropolitan Efrem of Kryvyi Rih presided over the Divine Liturgy and a religious procession at the cathedral.
The OCU announced that the Filaret schism has been resolved
The Bishops' Council of the OCU declared "the desperate attempts of pro-Russian forces to obstruct the reconciliation" between Dumenko and Denysenko.
Dumenko: It is our duty to establish a National Pantheon of Heroes
The OCU head said that almost no graves of Ukraine’s princes and hetmans have survived and called for their remains to be put together in a National Pantheon.
OCU Bishops’ Council calls on Ukraine to join EU
The OCU said that while the EU has many problems, it is free from the heresy of the “Russian world.”
Forum for UOC clergy wives to be held in Kyiv
At the forum, wives of UOC clergymen will discuss family life, Church ministry, health, and ways to overcome spiritual burnout.