SESS to Issue Order to Pochaiv Lavra Over "Ties" with Moscow
Viktor Yelensky announced the preparation of an order to Pochaiv Lavra over alleged ties with the ROC.
The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience will issue an order to Pochaiv Lavra over accusations of ties with the Russian Church. This was announced by the head of the agency Viktor Yelensky, as reported by Ukrinform.
According to Yelensky, the state service intends to officially notify the leadership of Pochaiv Lavra of the need to sever its alleged affiliation with the Moscow Patriarchate, which the SESS claims to have identified. The official did not specify the exact content of the document or the timeline for its submission.
Pochaiv Lavra is one of the largest shrines of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and has remained the focus of government attention for several years. The monastery's leadership and representatives of the UOC have repeatedly stated that the monastery is not subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate following the decisions of the UOC Council in 2022.
As the UOJ previously reported, an official in the Ternopil region was tried for transferring land to Pochaiv Lavra. The situation surrounding the status and property of the monastery has repeatedly been the subject of court proceedings and statements by government agencies in recent years.
