Expelling the UOC from Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra is a disgrace – Serbian priest

Serbian priest Siniša Buvač. Photo: UOJ

The authorities’ decision to seize the churches and property of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is disgraceful, priest Siniša Buvač, a cleric of the Banat Eparchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church, told the UOJ in an interview.

He particularly stressed that the relics of saints cannot belong to the state. “The relics belong to the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Romanian, Ukrainian, and other Local Orthodox Churches. They cannot be the property of the state!” the priest emphasized.

According to him, sacred objects must not be treated as ordinary museum exhibits or as a source of revenue. “No representative of the state has the right to dispose of them. These are sacred objects, and they cannot be treated like museum exhibits,” Father Siniša said.

The priest said he had visited the Lavra and considered it an honor to have seen the holy site. “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra is many centuries older than the Ukrainian state. Only the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has the right to administer Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra,” Father Siniša stressed.

He noted that the Lavra was built specifically as a place of prayer and has no connection to the modern Ukrainian state. “If the state considers itself the owner, then let us turn to history and see who the Lavra belonged to at the time it was built,” he said.

The priest also spoke sharply about those making such decisions. “People have become very cunning. They have sold themselves to the devil. I am speaking about worldly politicians who dared to take away the Lavra and appropriate it for themselves, together with everything inside it.”

He recalled that Montenegro had faced a similar attempt involving Ostrog Monastery, but believers there prevented the shrine from being seized.

“Whoever starts a war against God is doomed to defeat from the outset,” he said.

The priest also called on believers to forgive those who wrong them. “First light a candle for the health of your enemy, and only then for your own family.”

As the UOJ previously reported, Mount Athos monastics condemned the desecration of relics at Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

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