OCU "bishop": We hoped Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monks would join the OCU

The head of the Vyshhorod ‘eparchy’ of the OCU. Photo: Kremenchutska Gazeta

"Archbishop" Agapit of Vyshhorod (OCU) said that they expected the monks of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra to join Dumenko’s structure, but this did not happen, and they still live in the monastery, reports Kremenchutska Gazeta.

‘Today, there are monks from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, and we have a new abbot – Bishop Abrahamy, a former monk of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.... Of course, we hoped that a certain number of monks of the Moscow Patriarchate would join the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, but today they are still standing their ground, and there is a small part that continues to live on the territory of the Pechersk Lavra. Of course, we do not want to forcibly throw anyone out, expel them or anything like that. Perhaps, they are expecting this, but we understand that this will not lead to anything good," he said.

At the same time, "Archbishop" Agapit added that he hopes for a resolution of the issue on a "normal, human, moral plane".

As earlier reported, "Metropolitan" Fedir of Poltava and Kremenchuk of the OCU stated that his religious structure lacks staff.

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