Poturaev on Lavra eviction: We have to wait for a court decision
Nikita Poturaev. Photo: a screenshot of the Radio Liberty YouTube channel
On 7 April 2023, an MP of the People's Servant faction, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy Nikita Poturaev said that they have to wait on the eviction of monks from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra until a court decision.
Commenting on the terms of the UOC monks' stay in the Lavra, Poturaev told Radio Liberty: "On the terms of stay, I urge everyone to be realistic, because the state has taken absolutely legal decisions."
According to him, "the Ukrainian state had the right to make these decisions and they should have been implemented by now. But these decisions are being appealed in court. And if we have to wait for a court ruling which, I am convinced, will confirm the legality of these decisions, then we should wait".
Poturaev also said that European practice requires that "such decisions have judicial confirmation".
"Therefore, if it is necessary to wait longer, it is worth waiting, so that there will be no problems with appealing these decisions in the future. So that none of the so-called experts or journalists, including those abroad, question these decisions so that it is simply impossible to do so," the Servant of the People MP added.
As reported, Poturaev "does not rule out" that the issue with Lavra will have to be resolved in court.
Read also
U.S. bishops call for Church unity on Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy
The Assembly of Bishops of the USA has issued an encyclical for the Triumph of Orthodoxy on Church unity, veneration of icons, and support for pan-Orthodox ministry.
OCU organizes harassment of businessman for aiding UOC
Hryshchuk called for boycotting the business of the entrepreneur who built a UOC church in the Rivne region.
Head of Lavra Reserve: I believe UOC monks will move to the OCU
Ostapenko said there are 140 UOC monks and novices on the territory of the Lower Lavra.
"Shield of Judah": Biblical name given to operations against Iran
A joint Israeli–US military operation against Iran has received a code name referencing the biblical forefather of the Jewish royal line.
In Syria, Islamic militants behead statues of Christ and Virgin Mary
Vandals beheaded statues of the Lord and the Mother of God at the entrance to the "Cave of the Virgin Mary" in the village of Al-Basiya near the coastal city of Banias in Syria.
Icon with particle of Gabriel Urgebadze's relics to be brought to Uzhhorod from Georgia
The holy icon, painted in Georgia, will be brought to the Holy Trinity Church of the Mukachevo Eparchy of the UOC.