UOC faithful publish appeal to Athonite monks visiting OCU

A joint “service” of Athonite monks and the OCU at the Dormition Cathedral. Photo: OCU

Members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have published an open letter addressed to the delegation from the Athonite New Esphigmenou Monastery, which arrived in Kyiv to take part in the OCU’s celebrations at the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

The appeal comes amid ongoing controversy surrounding the presence of the Athonite delegation at events organized by the OCU.

The authors of the letter argued that, under the current circumstances, the monks’ visit to Kyiv amounts to direct support for what they describe as church raiding.

“You are taking part in the crime of persecuting Christians, in the desecration of the holy Lavra and of its founders, brethren, and faithful,” the parishioners wrote. They urged the Athonite visitors to recognize the scale of what is taking place and “no longer answer the call of thieves.”

The faithful reminded the Athonite delegation that it was the monks and parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who restored the Lavra from the ruins in which it had remained after the Soviet era.

According to the appeal, the monastery’s present splendor became possible solely through the efforts of the UOC, whereas the structure headed by Dumenko and the Ministry of Culture decided in 2023 simply to “appropriate our heritage.”

“They have decided to drive us outside the monastery gates,” the authors wrote, adding that National Reserve Director Maksym Ostapenko has openly threatened the UOC brethren with forcible eviction.

While the OCU has described the visit of the Athonite monks as “a living spiritual bridge” between the Holy Mountain and Ukraine, the Lavra faithful insisted that the visitors are being misled.

The letter states that during their time in the monastery, the OCU representatives, described by the authors as “regular employees of the Ministry of Culture,” have done nothing to develop the Lavra and have instead allowed the buildings transferred to them to fall into poor condition.

“Do not become accomplices to theft and seizure. Do not become followers of the betrayer of our Lord,” the appeal concludes.

Earlier, the abbot of the Athonite New Esphigmenou Monastery stated that the creation of the OCU was not a political act but a “return to the truth.”

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