The doubts surrounding the immediate future of the spiritual and administrative center of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, historically affiliated with the Patriarchate of Moscow (EOU-MP), were lifted at the end of the morning. On Wednesday March 29, the deadline for an eviction notice issued by the Kiev authorities, the Orthodox monks of this church, accused of maintaining links with the Kremlin, finally decided not to leave the monastery of the Lavra of the Kiev caves, owned by the Ukrainian government, and embarking on a legal battle. In mid-March, the government agency responsible for managing Ukraine’s holiest Orthodox site notified the EOU-MP that it would be terminating its lease on the grounds of “violations [des règles] in the use of State property”. A claim that the bishops dispute, calling it a pretext.
“The law is on our side. We will stay at Laure until the end of the trial. We have a long-term contract that cannot be terminated in times of war,” said Metropolitan Pavlo, in charge of the monastery. EUO-MP lawyers filed a lawsuit in a Kyiv court to prevent the deportation. In response, the secretary of the Ukrainian National Security Council, Oleksii Danilov, warned via his press service that “no one will pull anyone by the feet, there will be no eviction by force, everything will be done in accordance with the law”.
On Wednesday, on a freezing morning, hundreds of believers and priests attend the religious service given in a church of the huge monastery classified by Unesco as a world heritage site. The faces are serious and collected, while the future of the spiritual and theological center of the Church is at stake. light blue wearing a beanie, came with a small group to attend the service and show his support for the decision of the Ukrainian authorities.
“Our church is the largest in Ukraine and we are millions of believers who share a very negative feeling towards the decision of the authorities”, says the man, while his two friends nod around him. “By doing so, the Ukrainian authorities are only repeating the pressure of the communists against the church in Soviet times”, he asserts. “What is certain is that the authorities will not stop at the Lavra [la Laure des grottes] », assures another man named Volodymyr, 36 years old, who presents himself as a poet.
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