Ternopil authorities request DESS to check Pochaiv Lavra for ties to Moscow
Pochaiv Lavra. Photo: Lavra website
On July 23, 2025, deputies of the Ternopil Regional Council supported an appeal to the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) requesting an investigation into potential affiliation of UOC monasteries in Ternopil Region with structures of the Moscow Patriarchate, including the Pochaiv Lavra.
The appeal was supported by 47 deputies.
The document mentions three religious institutions: the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra, the Holy Spirit Monastery of the Ternopil Eparchy of the UOC, and the Theophany Convent of the same eparchy.
Recall that in March 2023, the OCU established an organization under the name “Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra of the Ternopil Eparchy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” appointing the same Pysyk as its “archimandrite.” The OCU has not clarified how this entity corresponds with existing legal structures or where it is to be physically located.
As previously reported by the UOJ, the head of the UGCC, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, stated that following the “demoscowization” of Pochaiv Lavra, the authorities should also take his Church into account.
Read also
The Favor Foundation Delivered Aid to a UOC Parish in the Frontline Village of Yasnohirka
The community dedicated to George the Victorious in the Donetsk region received a gasoline generator and a charging station from the charitable foundation.
Court sets date for next hearing in Metropolitan Longin's case
Following another session of the Hertsa Court, the UOC hierarch thanked the faithful for their support.
Odesa vicar comments on whether UOC is in talks with Phanar
The Archbishop of Artsyz stated that online publications about his negotiations with Patriarch Bartholomew are a lie.
Region's principal relic, Turkovychi Icon of Theotokos, venerated in Kryvyi Rih
On the feast day of the wonderworking icon of the Mother of God, Metropolitan Ephrem of Kryvyi Rih led the Divine Liturgy and a religious procession at the cathedral.
OCU announces end of Filaret schism
The OCU Bishops’ Council claimed that “frantic attempts by pro-Russian forces to obstruct reconciliation” between Dumenko and Denysenko had failed.
Dumenko: It is our duty to establish a National Pantheon of Heroes
The OCU head said that almost no graves of Ukraine’s princes and hetmans have survived and called for their remains to be put together in a National Pantheon.