The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) wants to obtain the right to hold services in the Pochaiv Lavra, which is currently rented by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP).
The head of the UGCC Svyatoslav Shevchuk stated this in an interview with "Ukraiinska Pravda" ["Ukrainian Trurh"].
"We do not want to present any property claims to anyone today. But we say that this is the historically great spiritual center of our church. Researchers of Kyiv Christianity in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth say that there was once an unwritten agreement between the Orthodox in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and the Greek Catholics in the Pochaiv Lavra regarding the printing of liturgical books. What we printed in Pochaiv was not printed by the Orthodox in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Why? Because we exchanged those books," explained Shevchuk.
He added that the actions of tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union were aimed at liquidating the UGCC, so the Lavra was first transferred to the Orthodox Church of Russia, and then the Soviet authorities annexed the Pochaiv Lavra with its territory to the Ternopil region "in order to destroy the Union in Galicia."
"Therefore, those who will make decisions about who to give access to for the opportunity to pray must take into account that the Pochaiv Lavra has a historical relationship with our church," the hierarch noted.
- In November 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine conducted searches on the territory of the Pochaiv Theological Seminary in the Ternopil region, which is located on the territory of the Lavra. Propaganda materials were found there, which deny the existence of the Ukrainian people, their language, as well as Ukraineʼs right to statehood.