UOC hierarch: Venerable Fathers will soon say their word

Metropolitan Theodosiy. Photo: Cherkasy Eparchy

Metropolitan Theodosiy (Snigirev) in his commentary "To the Cherkasy Pilgrim" regarding the blasphemous "exhumation of the relics" in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, called on the faithful to remain calm and noted that the Venerable Fathers of the Lavra are capable of defending themselves and will soon speak for themselves.

“Brothers and sisters, let us not fall into panic but maintain reasonable composure. Everything is happening as it was bound to happen. It has long been clear to many where all this is heading – not today, not yesterday, and not even three years ago… Today, the Venerable Fathers of the Lavra do not need our help or protection. They will defend us themselves. And very soon, they will,” the hierarch emphasized.

According to him, “those who have now dared to lay hands on their relics simply do not understand their power or their rightful place in our land” – just as “their spiritual predecessors didn’t understand it back in 1922 and 1941.”

He recalled that several years ago, when full-scale persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church began, one “prudent man” warned that the caves and relics of the venerable fathers must not be touched, as such an act would “end in tragedy for the blasphemers.”

“We have all already suffered deeply from their lawlessness and impunity. But we can do nothing about it. The venerable fathers, unlike us, can. Not long before Metropolitan Arseniy, the abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra, was thrown behind bars, in response to the tears and complaints of the faithful about what was happening, he said: ‘The final word will belong to the Venerable Fathers of the Kyiv Caves.’ Let us place our hope in the Venerable Ones. And let the lawless hurry to do their work,” Metropolitan Theodosiy concluded.

As the UOJ reported, on March 28, 2025, a commission from the Ministry of Culture arrived at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra accompanied by police. Early in the morning, while the city was still asleep, several vehicles carrying law enforcement officers – some equipped with angle grinders – entered the monastery grounds. They cut off and replaced the locks on the doors leading to the Near Caves and forced their way inside. Soon after, the same happened to the Far Caves. This marked the de facto seizure by the state of one of the most revered shrines of the Orthodox world – the relics of the Venerable Fathers of the Kyiv Caves.

Veterinarians, anatomists, and biologists are now set to "examine" the relics of the Pechersk saints. Could the authorities have spat more openly in the faces of believers?

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