Reserve acknowledges "revival of monasticism" in Lavra under UOC

First photos of the Lavra after its opening in 1988. Photo: lavra.ua

The National Reserve in its official statement essentially acknowledged that the revival of monastic life in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra occurred during the period when it was under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This is stated in the Reserve's Facebook post on the death of Filaret Denysenko.

The statement notes that from 1988 to 1992, Filaret served as the sacred archimandrite of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, and it was during this period, officials say, that “the revival of monastic life within its walls took place and holy relics were returned to the faithful.”

According to the chronology, during the specified years Filaret was a hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which initially was part of the Moscow Patriarchate, and in 1991, having received the Letter from Patriarch Alexy II, gained autonomy.

As the UOJ wrote, the head of the Institute of National Memory Oleksandr Alferov called the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra a common shrine for Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox.

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