The dispute over the use of the cave monastery has been going on for months. The monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are suspected of espionage and agitation for Moscow.
The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office has opened criminal proceedings against the abbot of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavlo (Lebyd). According to his Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOK), Pavlo is accused of inciting religious hostility and hatred against the rival Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OKU) and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (Istanbul), Kathpress reports.
He is also accused of justifying Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and distributing relevant writings. The Ukrainian secret service SBU summoned him for Saturday afternoon to interrogate him, the priest said in a video distributed by the monastery. His apartment will be searched. Pavlo stressed that he condemned “what Russia and (its President Vladimir) Putin have done”. He stands in defense of Ukraine. He faces pre-trial detention and up to five years in prison.
Pavlo had insulted the OKU and the Patriarchate of Constantinople in a video message. He and dozens of UOK monks continue to refuse to vacate the cave monastery. The religious had announced that they would not leave Ukraine’s most important Orthodox shrine without a court decision and without the basic documents for terminating the lease. Around 200 monks have lived in the monastery so far; the management of the UOK has its headquarters here, as does its most important educational institution, the Theological Academy. Like many other Ukrainian places of worship, it belongs to the state.
Allegations of espionage and agitation for Moscow
The dispute over the use of the cave monastery has been going on for months. The Ukrainian leadership suspects the Ukrainian Orthodox Church operating there of espionage and agitation for Moscow. Before the Russian invasion, she belonged to the Patriarchate in Moscow. Although she renounced this patriarchy after the start of the Russian war of aggression, Kiev has accused her of continuing cooperation. The dispute between Ukraine and Russia had already led to the establishment of an Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OKU) independent of the Moscow Patriarchate in 2018.
(APA/dpa)