Artem Dmytruk says about whether Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra will return to UOC

Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Photo: media-cdn.tripadvisor

In a live broadcast on journalist Oleksandr Shelest's YouTube channel, Member of Parliament Artem Dmytruk discussed whether the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra would return to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).

Oleksandr Shelest asked whether there are statistics on the number of churches taken away from the UOC. Dmytruk responded that he did not know the exact number of churches that had been seized from the UOC through raiding methods, but said it was in the hundreds.

When asked about the fate of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Dmytruk responded that the monastic community of the UOC is still managing the affairs of the monastery "because the OCU has no capability for this – neither monks, nor finances, and so on."

"The OCU constantly asks the authorities for help: give us people, give us money, give us this, give us that. Because it's not simple. Maintaining such churches, such a monastery, requires huge financial investments and complex management work," explained the MP.

"Will the Lavra return? Of course, it will return! Our saints are there, the relics of our saints are there, our people are there, you understand? Therefore, the Lavra will return!" emphasized Dmytruk, adding that everything happening with the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra today is temporary.

As reported by the Union of Orthodox Journalists, a "hierarch" of the OCU said that they had hoped the monks of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra would join the OCU.

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