Reserve expelling Kyiv Lavra hosts forum on “new ideas in monasticism”

Director of the reserve speaks to OCU clerics about the future of monastic life. Photo: Reserve’s Facebook page

The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve, which has been attempting for a while to evict monks from the monastery through the courts, hosted a “Monasticism Forum” focused on “rethinking the role of monasticism in the modern world, seeking new forms of service,” and “discussing the future of monastic life in Ukraine.”

The event was attended by members of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) and employees of the reserve.

“In today’s context, the Lavra is a space that helped shape Ukraine as a state and Ukrainians as a nation. Therefore, it is necessary to reconsider how the Muscovites managed to spiritually occupy our national shrine for 300 years, so that history does not repeat itself,” organizers said in outlining the forum’s goals.

Archbishop Jonah of Obukhiv called the event “surreal” in a Facebook post.

“Do you know what galvanic movement is? It’s when an electric current is applied to a dead frog and its legs twitch. That’s pretty much what these ‘readings’ look like... The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve, which has spent two years trying to destroy a living monastery, is now organizing a seminar on monasticism. Pure surrealism,” the hierarch wrote.

For reference, the OCU reportedly has around 230 monks. Earlier, UOJ reported that a cross collapsed from the dome of the Church of All Saints at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

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