Dumenko hands out roses to women in the Refectory Church of Kyiv Lavra

"Service" of the OCU in the Refectory Church of the Lavra. Photo: Save Lavra Tg channel

On March 16, 2025, the head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Epifaniy Dumenko, held a “service” in the Refectory (Trapezny) Church of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, according to the Save Lavra Telegram channel.

"On this great feast of the Lavra, the Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Pechersk Lavra, only a few dozen people – around 50–70 – gathered in the large Refectory Church, which is closed off to the Lavra’s monastics and the parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) for their own services," the channel’s authors wrote. They also noted that after the event, people were “taken away by buses, which had apparently brought them there in the first place.”

One of the buses belonged to the charitable foundation Brotherhood of Kind Hearts.

At the same time, there were many cameras and several vehicles equipped for live broadcasts. At the end of the “service,” Dumenko traditionally handed out roses to women.

"Epifaniy and his entourage remained only in the Refectory Church. The Dormition Cathedral was empty. As far as we could tell, no Liturgy took place there today," the channel reported.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote about the OCU’s explanation regarding the fall of a cross in the Lavra.

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