Priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP) do not want to leave the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. They demand a trial.
This was stated by the head of the information and educational department of the UOC MP Metropolitan Kliment, writes LIGA.net.
"We have no legal reason to leave the monastery now. There is no document that obliges us to leave the monastery today. There are documents that say that the contract is supposed to expire on the 29th, but it is not written that it expires on the 29th," he noted.
According to him, this issue should be resolved in court, but the reserve did not file a lawsuit. Therefore, the commission for the description of things in the Lavra allegedly will not be able to work, because "there is no court decision."
When asked whether the representatives of the UOC-MP are going to prevent the commission from entering the territory of the Lavra, he answered:: "They will not come themselves. They have no authority."
Also, representatives of the UOC MP sued the reserve. In the register of court decisions for March 24, there is a decision of the Commercial Court of Kyiv on the self-recusal of a judge. And the application itself to the court of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Ukraine was submitted to the reserve with the demand to invalidate the termination of the lease agreement.
- Since November 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine has conducted a series of searches in churches and other institutions of the Moscow Patriarchate. During the searches, they seized pro-Russian literature, "Novorossiya" flags, millions of cash, literature denying: the existence of the Ukrainian people; their language; Ukraineʼs right to statehood. Those books are claiming that the state was created artificially.
- Before the New Year, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra reserve informed the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate that, as of January 1, it was not renewing the contract for its use with the Assumption Cathedral and the Tabernacle Church.
- On March 10, the National Reserve "Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra" sent a letter to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate about the termination of the lease agreement. Priests are asked to leave the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine announced that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Ukraine must vacate all the premises it rents in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra by March 29. The UOC MP stated that these demands have no legal basis.