"Acting abbot" of the Lavra from OCU: Not all Lavra brethren are bad
Avraamiy Lotysh. Photo: telegraf.com.ua
Appointed by the OCU, the "acting abbot" of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and former sacristan of the monastery Avraamiy Lotysh said in an interview with telegraf.com.ua that in the Lavra, in addition to the "bad" brethren, there are also "good" ones, who do not mind moving into the structure of Dumenko in exchange for the opportunity to stay in the monastery.
According to Lotysh, now an allegedly "unhealthy situation has developed" in the monastery, its inhabitants having become its "hostages".
“For the male monastery of the OCU, there are no premises yet for the brethren who will be part of the OCU,” he said. “As soon as there are premises, which depends on the decision by the state, the brethren, who have a Ukrainian consciousness, will be able to join the OCU. Not all of the brethren there are bad. There are good monks who really pray for Ukraine, suffer for Ukraine and our soldiers. Therefore, we are waiting for this process – the provision of premises.”
Commenting on the fact that Dumenko does not have such a number of “monks” that would be enough to populate the Lavra, Avraamiy tried to compare the situation of the OCU in modern Ukraine with the situation in which monasticism was in the USSR: “We begin this process in the same way as they did in their time, when it was formed from nothing. In 1988, when the territory of the Lower Lavra was transferred to the Church, including the Far Caves, there were only 5–7 monks at that time.”
As the UOJ wrote, on July 7, 2023, Hierodeacon Pavel, a resident of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, said the brethren would not leave the monastery themselves, but would continue to defend it together with the faithful of the UOC.
Read also
They took away passport but not Christ, UOC hierarch on Metropolitan Onuphry
Metropolitan Luke believes that stripping the UOC Primate of Ukrainian citizenship is a form of political repression.
Mayor of Chernivtsi claims cathedral and other UOC churches belong to OCU
According to Klichuk, the shrines were transferred from the UOC to the Dumenko structure "legally".
Zelensky comments on decision to revoke citizenship of UOC Primate
Referring to His Beatitude, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that "there is no place for all these persons in Ukraine, and there never will be."
Greek media criticize OCU for joint services with UGCC
The resource believes that it is part of the general framework of a gradually implemented uniatisation of the Orthodox Church.
In vlg. Druzhba, Rivne region, new altar of UOC church consecrated
The consecration was performed by Archbishop Pimen.
Synod of Romanian Church criticizes Ukrainian authorities
Romanian hierarchs consider the refusal of Ukrainian state bodies to recognize the religious association of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Ukraine as "unjustified, and abusive".