Several OCU clerics hold “service” in Far Caves of Kyiv Lavra

“OCU Lavra abbot” Avraamiy Lotysh in the Church of St. Theodosius of the Caves, Far Caves. Photo: OCU

On July 30, 2025, the so-called “OCU abbot of the Lavra,” Avraamiy Lotysh, conducted a “liturgy” in the Church of St. Theodosius of the Caves, located in the Far Caves of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. This was reported on the OCU’s Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra page.

Alongside Lotysh, the supposed “brotherhood” of the monastery also “served,” and at the end, the OCU “bishop” addressed those present. However, photos published from the event show only a few OCU clerics and young men in cassocks, with just one “believer” visible in attendance.

Avraamiy stated that this “event” demonstrates that “despite all obstacles, the OCU is establishing itself in the Lavra.”

He also claimed that “at the same time, the spiritual connection with the Mother Church of Constantinople continues – a Church to which all the Pechersk saints belonged, and which now lives on within the free and autocephalous Ukrainian Church.”

As previously reported by the UOJ, the same “OCU abbot of the Lavra” earlier asserted that the UOC brotherhood had “betrayed” the relics of the saints.

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