UOC’s Myltsi monastery brethren appeal to U.S. authorities for protection

The brethren and parishioners of St. Nicholas Monastery in Myltsi. Photo: Pershyi Kozatskyi

The brethren and parishioners of the St. Nicholas Myltsi Monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Volhynia have appealed to the U.S. leadership with a просьба to protect their religious rights. The monks addressed their appeal to U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna. A video message to that effect was published on the Telegram channel Kozak TV.

According to the monastery’s abbot, Archimandrite Leontiy, the monastery – whose history stretches back some 700 years – is now facing the threat of eviction. He said that after the lease expired, the state did not transfer the monastery into the Church’s ownership, and the brethren are now being told to leave the premises.

The clergyman said that the monks returned to the monastery after the fall of Soviet power and restored the monastic life that had been broken off during the years of persecution. According to him, during the Soviet period the holy site was subjected to grave desecration, and the monastery’s revival became possible only through the efforts of the brethren and the faithful.

“And today, when the lease has ended and the monastery has been rebuilt, we are being told to leave,” the abbot said.

The appeal also speaks of pressure from certain politicians. In particular, Father Leontiy said that MP Ihor Huz had previously declared his intention to secure the monks’ eviction.

“He recently took the cathedral in Volodymyr. He gathered 250 people, armed with automatic weapons. Perhaps he wants to do the same with us. There is no one to put this deputy in his place and show him the limits of his rights and duties,” the priest said.

In view of this, the brethren asked representatives of the American authorities to pay attention to their situation and help protect their rights and freedom of religion.

As the UOJ previously reported, the brethren of the St. Nicholas Myltsi Monastery of the UOC in Volhynia had earlier spoken about the history of the monastery’s revival and the condition in which it was handed over to them after the Soviet period.

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