Priest to authorities: You destroyed Lavra not physically but spiritually long ago

The Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Caves Lavra. Photo: depositphotos.com

A UOC cleric condemned the policy of state institutions toward the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra and said that the expulsion of prayer from the monastery became its true destruction. "You destroyed the Lavra long ago – pardon me, not materially and not physically, but spiritually – you destroyed the spiritual Lavra," the clergyman addressed representatives of the authorities and museum workers.

He emphasized that by closing the monastery to believers and the brethren, officials destroyed the "living organism" of prayer that had been built within these walls over centuries. According to the priest, state structures are only creating the illusion of caring for UNESCO heritage, while in reality they are exploiting the "misfortune and grief of the Ukrainian people" for their own PR.

"Today there is a director of the museum-reserve there; he earns money, keeps his salary. But where are the people who are supposed to pray there?" he asks. The cleric recalled that the Lavra was included in the World Heritage List precisely thanks to the work and talents of the faithful who restored it from ruins while the state did not allocate a single kopeck for this.

The clergyman directed particular criticism at Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, accusing his ministry of discrediting the law and the Constitution. "The police have never fallen so low in people's eyes as under you," the priest stated.

He pointed out double standards to the minister: the police speak of "maintaining order," yet remained inactive when in Lviv a shrine was demolished with a tractor, in Ivano-Frankivsk a church was destroyed, and in Chernivtsi believers were beaten. "You cover up criminals, lead them in assaults on Orthodox shrines, protect bandits, make corridors for them so they can cut the locks without hindrance," the cleric said.

As the UOJ reported, the authorities showed the President of Honduras and a U.S. diplomat damage in the Kyiv Lavra.

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