Ukrainian church to forbid Russian prayers
The head of the newly established Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) stated on Sunday that from now on, prayers at Kiev’s famous Pechersk Lavra should be said in Ukrainian. Monks from the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Ukraine (UOC) once lived in the historic monastery.
The religious community as of late ended up at the focal point of a stalemate between the UOC and the Ukrainian government. During the Orthodox Easter holidays, which are scheduled to be observed the following week, the Kiev-backed church now intends to hold prayers at the Lavra.
Ukrainian media were informed by Metropolitan Epiphany, head of the OCU, that he would hold prayers in the monastery on Orthodox Easter Sunday. On December 2, 2022, President Vladimir Zelensky imposed a ban on all religious organizations “affiliated” with Russia from operating in Ukraine. On that day, Kiev registered the Lavra as an OCU monastery.
Until recently, the UOC monks lived in the monastery. Kiev ended a lease agreement that had allowed the monks to live in the Lavra between the Ukrainian authorities and the UOC at the end of March. The monks filed a complaint with a Kiev court challenging the decision because they refused to leave. The hearing for their case is now scheduled for later in April.
Epiphany stated to Ukrainian media that the OCU does not want to “evict the monks.” He continued, insisting that “the Lavra should be Ukrainian;” “We want the spirit of the ‘Russian world’ to no longer reign here.” Always hold prayers in Ukrainian and for Ukraine there.”
He also asserted that the OCU would pray “peacefully and calmly” in the Lower Lavra that the UOC monks are still occupying, as well as in the upper portion of the monastery that the UOC monks had left empty. The OCU Metropolitan insisted that the monastery would “Ukrainize” eventually.
In November 2022, in the midst of the ongoing conflict between Kiev and Moscow, the Ukrainian security service (SBU) opened a criminal case against the monastery for chants in the Lavra that glorified Russia.
During the military conflict with Russia, Ukrainian officials accused the UOC of posing a security threat because of its historical ties to the Russian Orthodox Church. Supposedly looking for weapons and evidence of treason, the SBU has been raiding UOC churches.
Metropolitan Pavel, a senior UOC bishop and the Larva’s monk leader, was apprehended by Ukrainian authorities at the end of March. He was accused by the SBU of “justifying and denying Russian military aggression” and inciting religious hostility.
Moscow requested Pavel’s delivery while blaming Zelensky’s administration for strict mistreatment. Also last month, a report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) stated that the Ukrainian government’s actions “could be discriminatory,” which drew criticism from Kiev.
