The head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kyiv, appealed to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to immediately provide one of the churches on the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra for the services of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. These are the Church of the Annunciation in the former Metropolitan Chambers, the Church of All Saints above the Economic Gate or another within the Upper Lavra.
"The monopoly of the monastery of the Moscow Patriarchate on worship in the Lavra is categorically not accepted by the majority of Orthodox people in Ukraine and Ukrainian society," the letter reads.
According to the head of the OCU, the issue of overcoming such a monopoly "has been raised many times since the mid-1990s," but without success.
"During the 1990s and early 2000s, the monastery of the Moscow Patriarchate systematically expanded its presence through violence and seizures of more and more buildings. The head of the monastery Pavlo (Lebid), using connections in the then state leadership, sought to further "legalize" such actions," Epiphanius emphasizes.
- On the evening of May 12, the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) issued a statement stating that "the activities of the previous government and the OCU were one of the reasons for the military invasion of Ukraine."
- On May 13, the State Politicians called it incitement to hatred and justification of war. Later, the Verkhovna Rada registered a bill banning the Moscow Patriarchate on the territory of Ukraine.