Media: Pope ready to mediate talks on Kyiv Lavra

Pope Francis. Photo: ria.ru

Pope Francis is ready to mediate in the negotiations between the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the OCU on the situation with the expulsion of UOC monks from the Kyiv Caves Lavra, reports TASS.

The agency's interlocutor, chairman of the World Union of Old Believers Leonid Sevastyanov, said that the Pope said he was ready “to become a mediator so that the UOC and the OCU could discuss all personal issues".

"He could be a mediator, could help the UOC defend their position. <...> If there is a problem in establishing contacts, in communicating the position, he is ready to mediate," Sevastyanov added.

The head of the Union of Old Believers clarified that Pope Francis has no other legal mechanisms of help other than an appeal for peace and negotiations.

"He can only call for peace, dialogue and negotiations. In the Lavra case, he calls for respect for the sanctity of the shrines to stop the actions that are now taking place, but he has no such legal mechanisms to intervene in any specific way," Sevastyanov explained.

As reported, the OCU set up a structure called "Pochaiv Lavra".

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