"Temple of All Gods" Instead of the House of the Mother of God: Why the Authorities Want a Pantheon in the Lavra

Will a pantheon stand alongside the Orthodox cathedrals of the Lavra? Photo: SPJ

On June 28, 2026, Constitution Day, President V. Zelensky spoke at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and announced that he was submitting to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine a bill to establish the Ukrainian National Pantheon, intended, in the president's words, to honor Ukrainians who "fought for Ukraine, inspired Ukraine." Already on July 1, the Rada promptly voted in favor, and the Cabinet of Ministers just as promptly approved the mechanism for creating the Pantheon. It is planned to be located on the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

Why specifically in the Lavra? Who will be enshrined in this National Pantheon? What names will it immortalize? Whose example will it hold up?

From a monastery to a startup of new state ideology

The decision on the Pantheon cannot be considered in isolation from what is already happening to the Lavra. The authorities have been trying to expel the UOC monks from the monastery for three years: churches and some of the cells have been taken away, and believers have been denied access to the shrine. The "OCU monastery" somehow hasn't worked out — there are almost no monks there, and those who are present are simultaneously listed as full-time employees of the Ministry of Culture. For some time the authorities clearly did not know what to do with the shrine that had fallen into their hands: first they organized a culinary show, then held a prayer breakfast, then launched a song-and-dance ensemble. But now, it seems, the state has made up its mind. The Lavra is being turned into a platform for promoting a new state ideology — a kind of startup that they will try to sell to Ukrainian society.

It is noteworthy that it was in the Lavra that Zelensky celebrated Constitution Day, a purely secular holiday. Senior officials, representatives of religious organizations, and other distinguished guests were present at the event. Just yesterday the authorities were ostentatiously lamenting, telling the world about Russia's strike on the "shrine." And today that same shrine is merely a backdrop for state events: Zelensky speaks against the picturesque background of the Dormition Cathedral, officials sit beneath the Lavra bell tower.

And now this practice is being enshrined in law. The text of the law on the Pantheon explicitly states that it must become a venue for state ceremonies, the conferral of the highest state awards, and that visiting it will become part of the state protocol during visits by foreign leaders and delegations.

In other words, there is no question of any sanctity whatsoever. The authorities intend to use the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra as a state ritual venue.

Building in the Lavra is forbidden? If you really want to — it's allowed

When the authorities terminated the UOC's lease of the Lower Lavra, the state accused the Church of taking care of the monastery's properties. At that time, the Ministry of Culture compiled an entire list of "violations." The list of grievances included "unauthorized reconstruction, extension, replanning of cultural heritage monuments and the erection of new structures on the territory of the reserve," "misuse of a 1914 basement," and "improper maintenance of a locally significant architectural monument" — a book warehouse in building No. 113. The Ministry of Culture did not specify which particular properties were involved (apart from the last one).

When the UOC demanded that a specific list of "violations" be provided, the state refused the Church and classified the document.

At the same time, we heard from officials many indignant pronouncements accusing the UOC of violating the "historical appearance" of the Lavra. And here a perfectly reasonable question arises — will the construction of a "temple of all gods" (which is precisely what the word "pantheon" means) in an Orthodox shrine not violate this "appearance"? The question may seem rhetorical, but only at first glance.

The fact is that formally the construction in the Lavra will not violate either the "historical appearance" or the law. But not at all because the Pantheon will fit into the architecture of the ancient monastery. The authorities simply took an easier route: they preemptively abolished all the laws that could have stood in the way of this construction.

This was pointed out by member of parliament Maksym Buzhansky, commenting on law No. 15360 "On the Ukrainian National Pantheon": "The law explicitly contains a rule — to disregard other laws."

Indeed, the transitional provisions of the Pantheon law simultaneously "switch off" six legislative acts at once.

The Land Code requires that land be used for its designated purpose? For the Pantheon, this rule no longer applies — there is no need to change the designated use of the plot.

The Law on the Nature Reserve Fund prohibits capital construction on protected territories? It will now include an article that explicitly permits the construction of the Pantheon within a nature reserve. Moreover, the protected status of the land "cannot serve as grounds for refusal" to approve the project. In other words, officials responsible for protecting the reserve have been legally prohibited from saying "no."

The Law on the Protection of Cultural Heritage protects conservation zones of monuments and buffer zones of UNESCO sites? Two key articles of this law — the 32nd and 33rd — simply "do not apply" to the Pantheon. And a separate new provision permits construction directly within the buffer zone of a World Heritage Site — that is, precisely where it is categorically forbidden.

There is also the law on burial, which establishes sanitary and environmental requirements for burial sites. Can you guess whether they apply to the Pantheon? Correct — they do not: neither urban planning, nor environmental, nor sanitary-hygienic standards mandatory for any cemetery or columbarium in the country will apply here.

Finally, the urban planning conditions for the design of the Pantheon will be issued "without regard to the requirements of urban planning documentation at the local level." In plain terms — the Kyiv master plan need not be consulted.

The picture that emerges is telling. The Church was accused of "unauthorized reconstructions" and "violations of the historical appearance" — and on that basis monks were expelled from the monastery that they themselves had been restoring for decades after Soviet neglect. But when the state itself needed to build a "temple of all gods" in the shrine, it did not trouble itself with complying with its own laws — it simply abolished them.

Only one law remains that the Verkhovna Rada is powerless to abolish — the international Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Under it, any large-scale construction on the territory of a UNESCO site or within its buffer zone requires prior notification of the World Heritage Committee and an assessment of the impact on the monument. The Ukrainian parliament can "switch off" its own laws, but not the country's international obligations. And that is precisely why the question of the fate of the Lavra as a World Heritage Site is now anything but rhetorical.

"Temple of All Gods"

The word "pantheon" in translation from Greek means "temple of all gods." In other words, a universal pagan shrine. This is deeply troubling, because it is deeply symbolic: the state is erecting an inherently pagan monument at the very heart of Orthodoxy in our country.

This symbolism becomes even more striking when we look at the fate of the actual Roman Pantheon. This magnificent "temple of all gods" was built in 118–128 AD on the Piazza della Rotonda in Rome. In 609 AD it was converted into the Christian church of Santa Maria ad Martyres. This was a symbol of the triumph of Christianity over paganism. Now in Ukraine, the reverse is being attempted.

Perhaps someone will say that this is merely a word that has long since lost its original pagan meaning. That today it simply denotes a place of honor for great people. Very well — let us look at who is intended to be honored in the new Ukrainian "temple of all gods."

Instead of glorifying God — a cult of national idols

The law contains no approved list of persons whom the authorities intend to install in the Pantheon. But there are categories: heads of Ukrainian states, hetmans, presidents, commanders of the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic, the Ukrainian Galician Army, the Carpathian Sich, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Yes, among them there are undoubtedly worthy individuals: scholars, writers, philanthropists, statesmen, and soldiers who gave their lives for our country. But for some reason the Ukrainian authorities began this commemoration by repatriating and reinterring in Ukraine the remains of, to put it mildly, very controversial historical figures: members of the OUN, the UPA, the Ukrainian nationalist underground, the civil war, and so on.

A few examples. Andriy Melnyk is accused of collaboration with Nazi Germany and participation in repressions against the civilian population of occupied Ukrainian territory. Stepan Bandera is accused of collaboration with the Nazis and indirect involvement in the Volhynia massacre. Symon Petliura is accused of pogroms in 1918–1921, in which, by various estimates, up to 1 million Jews were killed, wounded, or robbed.

Perhaps for some these figures are heroes; perhaps some see in them fighters for Ukrainian independence. But

all of these people, directly or indirectly, were involved in killings — their hands are stained with blood. How can they be buried alongside the Venerable Fathers of the Caves, the saints of God?

There is yet another significant aspect. The Lavra is an Orthodox shrine. Yet the Pantheon proposes to honor Greek Catholics, non-believers, and people who were hostile to the Orthodox Church.

Perhaps the Ukrainian Pantheon will not resemble the Roman one of the pagan era. Sacrifices will probably not be offered there, nor pagan festivities organized. But what this whole affair does unmistakably resemble is the creation of a cult of the "heroes" of the October Revolution of 1917. The Soviet authorities then also created their own "pantheon": Lenin, Stalin, Kirov, Shchors, and so on. Their biographies were rewritten as "lives of saints" of the new godless religion. Communism had its own "saints," its own "relics," its own mausoleums, its own rituals, and its own mandatory holidays. Today the Ukrainian National Pantheon project is following the same path. Only instead of communist "heroes" — national ones; instead of Lenin — Bandera; instead of Soviet mausoleums — Ukrainian pantheons.

And all of them — whether Soviet or Ukrainian — are in essence the same spiritual substitution: the place of veneration of God, the Most Holy Theotokos, and the saints is taken by a state cult. The supreme value declared is the state, the nation, independence, revolution, the Maidan. And those proposed for veneration are the ones who brought their own, and more often other people's, lives to this altar. God is replaced by an idol — the idol of statehood or nationhood.

And who is it that loves to engage in such substitutions? One need only recall the words going back to Tertullian: "The devil is the ape of God."

The Pantheon in the Lavra: care for the state or a campaign against Orthodoxy?

All experts agree on one thing — there was absolutely no necessity to build the pantheon specifically in the Lavra: dozens of more suitable locations could have been found in Kyiv. Why specifically an Orthodox shrine? And whose idea was it?

Former MP Ihor Mosiychuk stated that the sacrilegious decision to place the pantheon in the monastery was made personally by Zelensky. And political analyst Kostiantyn Bondarenko adds that this is the president's attempt to spite the Church. And it is hard to disagree with him. In the relationship between Zelensky and the UOC, a certain pattern is visible. Before coming to power, he assured everyone that he would not interfere in matters of faith. At the end of 2022, Zelensky initiated large-scale repressions against the clergy; in 2023, he expelled the Church from the Lavra; in 2024, he signed the law banning the UOC; and now — the decision to build a pantheon in one of the most venerated Orthodox shrines in the world. And if the previous steps could be assessed as a struggle against "FSB priests," then a "temple of all gods" in a shrine is a blow against Orthodoxy as such.

It is hard not to notice a certain pattern. And we do not know why this is happening. Perhaps he sincerely believes that Orthodoxy has no place in Ukraine; perhaps he has greater sympathy for other religious movements; it is possible that Zelensky is influenced by the same people whom the former head of the Presidential Office consulted when making decisions.

But however that may be, the struggle against the Church is a foregone defeat. The Lavra survived the Mongol devastation, synodal bureaucracy, and the Soviet museum of atheism — and each time prayer returned to its caves. It will survive the "temple of all gods" as well. The only question is what price those who initiated this latest "reconstruction" of the shrine will have to pay.

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