The court ordered the Moscow Patriarchate to return the property of the Nizhny Lavra – the UOC (MP) is preparing an appeal
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On Thursday, August 10, the Commercial Court of the city of Kyiv ordered the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (men’s monastery) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) to return the property to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve. Read UP.Kultura in Telegram This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy. “We are talking about 79 objects of the Nizhny Lavra,” said the ICIP. A few hours later, the UOC (MP) published a comment by their lawyer, archpriest Nikita Chekman, on the decision of the Economic Court on their official social networks. He called the decision “lawlessness” and stated that it was passed with “flagrant violations”. Among such violations, according to Chekman, is the fact that the court did not involve the monks themselves in the proceedings. Therefore, the UOC (MP) stated that they do not agree with the court decision and plan to appeal it in the appellate instance. “We will eagerly wait for the full text of the decision to see what arguments the judge was guided by in making this decision. And we will file an appeal,” said the lawyer of the UOC (MP). Photo: Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve Also on the evening of August 10, a message appeared from the administration of the “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” reserve, with which they announced the closure of access for visitors to the territory of the Lower Lavra from 7:00 on August 11. On the morning of August 11, the reserve temporarily stopped access to the territory of Nizhnya Lavra. At the same time, the ban does not apply to priests, monks and men’s monastery workers. Also, five churches on the territory of the Lavra will be open for services and visits: the Church of Sergius of Radonezh, the Church of Agapitus of Pechersky, the Church of the Resurrection of Christ (“Afghan Church”), the Church of Anthony and Feodosius of Pechersky with the Dining Room, and the Dormition Cathedral. On August 11, access to the Lower Lavra was temporarily restricted. Photo: Focus / Telegram What is happening around the Lavra? On January 1, 2023, the contract of June 17, 2016, concluded between the National Reserve of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (Men’s Monastery) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on providing the Dormition Cathedral and the Tabernacle Church for temporary free use of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, expired on January 1, 2023. In March 2023, the National Reserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” terminated the contract with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Ukraine on the free use of the Lavra in Kyiv, so the monks were forced to leave the monastery and all the buildings. But representatives of the UOC MP refused to do so. On March 29, the Commercial Court of Kyiv received a lawsuit from the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. In it, they demanded that the rejection of the contract with the UOC MP be declared invalid. And the vicar of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavlo, said that he and the clergy of the UOC MP do not plan to leave the Lavra until the end of the trial. On April 1, the Shevchenkiv Court of Kyiv sent Pavel to 24-hour house arrest for two months on suspicion of inciting inter-religious enmity and justifying the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. On April 12, the Commission for the acceptance and transfer of state property finally started its work on the territory of the Lavra. On June 5, she completed her work, and the reserve sent the men’s monastery of the UOC MP a demand for immediate release, termination of use, and return of all religious buildings and other state-owned property. The day before, it became known that the church did not sign the acts of acceptance and transfer of the state property of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra within the set deadline. On June 13, the Commercial Court of Kyiv decided to reject the claim of the UOC MP to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve regarding the holding of divine services in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. On July 6, the commission, with the help of the police, was able to seal three buildings of the Lower Lavra – 69, 70 and 71. In building 69, law enforcement officers came across an unexpected find – portraits of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra. The commission planned to seal all the premises of the Lavra, except for those necessary for the monks to live. However, every time this was accompanied by boycotts and protests by believers of the UOC MP. Read also: Lavra after SBU searches: an empty temple, a silent reserve, pilgrim tourists and business as usual
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