Analyst on Lavra pantheon: Zelensky wants to strike Church where it hurts

Zelensky in the Lavra. Photo: Presidential Office press service

There is no state necessity to place the National Pantheon on the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, political analyst Kost Bondarenko told the UOJ in an exclusive comment.

“This is primarily about carrying out yet another act against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, against canonical Orthodoxy in Ukraine. As if expelling the Church were not enough, as if blasphemous actions such as rock concerts in the Refectory Church were not enough, they have now finally decided to create a pantheon on the territory of an Orthodox monastery, a shrine for the entire Orthodox world, not only for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” Bondarenko said.

He stressed that European countries have never built pantheons inside holy sites.

“If a state wants to build a pantheon, it builds it from scratch, as happened, for example, in Paris. The French did not choose Notre-Dame Cathedral for the Panthéon, but a building on the Left Bank, in the Latin Quarter. Nearby, incidentally, there is a church where St. Genevieve is buried – but the Panthéon is not located on the site of her burial. Therefore, in this situation, this is solely about Zelensky simply wanting to deal another painful blow to the Church,” the expert noted.

According to him, the head of state is guided not by political motives but by personal hostility toward the Church.

“Zelensky is a deeply atheistic man who does not belong to any confession. He acts solely out of his own cynicism, trying to strike Ukrainian Orthodoxy as painfully as possible,” Bondarenko said.

At the same time, the political analyst doubts the pantheon will ever be built at all: technically, he says, it is impossible, while the project has two real purposes.

“The first is to absorb budget funds; the second is what he sees as a slap in the face to the Church. Money will be allocated and then dispersed into private pockets – exactly as happened with the university Zelensky was planning to build,” the expert concluded.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that former MP Ihor Mosiychuk said the decision to build the pantheon in the Lavra was made personally by Zelensky and that the construction would lead to the destruction of the shrine.

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