MP speaks of “non-public process” of enticing Lavra monks to OCU

MP Nikita Poturaev. Photo: znaj.ua

Verkhovna Rada deputy from the “Servant of the People” party, the head of the parliamentary Committee for Humanitarian and Information Policy Nikita Poturaev admitted that the authorities use non-public mechanisms of influence on the monastics of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra to persuade them to join the OCU. He said this in a comment to espreso.tv.

“There is a very difficult process going on there, not all of it is public, and there are certain aspects of this process that publicity can harm,” the MP said. “Did anyone imagine two weeks ago that one of the leaders of the Lavra from the UOC-MP would transfer to the OCU and publicly call on the monastic brethren to transfer to the OCU and thus remain in the Lavra? Nobody expected this. If this had been publicized beforehand, it might have hurt the process a little."

As reported, on March 29, 2023, Epifaniy Dumenko appointed the former sacristan of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Archimandrite Abramius, who defected to the OCU, "acting abbot" of the monastery.

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