MinCult officially bans KDAiS teachers and students from entering Lavra

The Ministry of Culture expels KDAiS from the Lavra. Photo: UOJ

The Ministry of Culture officially banned teachers and students of the Kyiv Theological Seminary and Academy from entering and staying on the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, where educational buildings are located, the KDAiS website reports.

The decision was sent in a letter signed by the acting Minister of Culture, Rostyslav Karandeyev.

Since the unilateral termination of the state's agreement with the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra in March 2023, the rector of the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary, Archbishop Sylvester, has repeatedly appealed to various authorities, urging them not to close the Kyiv theological schools. Nevertheless, on August 11, 2023, when the reserve closed the entrance to the territory of the Lower Lavra to all visitors, access to the buildings of the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary was also blocked for all KDAiS teachers, students, and staff.

The press service of the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary reports that on the same day, the rector "sent a letter to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, providing a historical justification for the legal relationship between the Academy and the Reserve, as well as requesting the possibility of unhindered access to the buildings of the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary for students, teachers, and staff."

In response, the acting Minister of Culture, R. Karandeyev, directed a letter to the Lavra on August 17, 2023, where teachers, students, and staff of the Kyiv theological schools are equated with visitors of the Lavra, and access to the monastery's territory and buildings of the Academy is prohibited.

On August 19, 2023, the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary sent another letter to the same recipients, pointing out the unlawfulness of categorizing teachers, students, and staff as visitors of the Lavra and making a new request for them to be granted unimpeded access to the buildings of the Kyiv theological schools.

"However, the response from the Ministry of Culture stated that their position remains unchanged – teachers, students, and staff of the Kyiv theological schools are considered visitors of the Lavra, and thus, access to the monastery's territory and buildings of the Academy is prohibited," the text from the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary states.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that KDAiS was relocating to the Holosiiv Monastery in Kyiv.

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