Pantheon in the Lavra will provoke inter-confessional conflicts, – rector of the KThAaS
Archbishop Sylvester noted that many historical figures would hardly have wished to rest in an Orthodox monastery.
The rector of the KThAaS, Archbishop Sylvester (Stoychev), stated that there are risks of inter-confessional clashes due to the authorities' plans to establish a National Pantheon on the territory of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.
Despite supporting the very idea of honoring heroes, His Grace Sylvester called the choice of location highly controversial and raising well-founded doubts among scholars and the public.
In the rector's view, the Lavra is a special sacred place with a centuries-old "field of meanings" that will be diluted by the introduction of a new ideological concept. The status of a heritage reserve requires the state to protect this unique space rather than introduce fundamentally new and alien elements into it.
Furthermore, the appearance of a pantheon will inevitably restrict free access to the shrine. "Was such an important aspect taken into account as the mandatory visit to the Pantheon by foreign official delegations, which in turn will inevitably complicate protocol procedures and once again restrict the possibility of free access to the Lavra for ordinary citizens?" – His Grace poses the question.
The main risk of the project lies in the difference of faiths of the persons planned to be interred in the memorial complex. "For their joint burial, it would be better to find a neutral space that will not be so closely associated with a specific religious community," Archbishop Sylvester emphasized.
His Grace added that many historical figures during their lifetime would hardly have wished to rest in an Orthodox monastery, and that the creation of a pantheon specifically in the Lavra "lays the groundwork for future contradictions, including inter-confessional ones, for many years to come."
As the UOJ reported, the OCU welcomes the construction of a pantheon in the Lavra.
