The UOC refused to comply with the demand of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine to evict the monks from the Lavra

The requirement of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine to the monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to leave the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is illegal and unfounded. About it says in a statement from the legal department of the UOC, published on the website of the church.

“The demand to terminate the use and return of state property is illegal and cannot be enforced,” the statement said.

The same applies to the situation with the termination of the contract unilaterally. The UOC explained that the dispute is still being considered in court, there is no decision on it yet, which means that the requirements of the Ministry of Culture are illegal and not subject to execution.

Metropolitan Kliment, the chairman of the synodal information and educational department of the canonical UOC, noted that for several months the authorities of Ukraine and the reserve have not provided the court with documents confirming the grounds for unilateral termination of the lease agreement. “What kind of evictions can we talk about if court hearings to resolve this dispute have not even begun yet?” – indignant He.

June 6 Commission of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine obligated monks of the UOC to leave the Lavra within three working days. According to the Minister of Culture of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko, the commission signed an act of acceptance and transfer of state property of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra with the reserve.

The conflict between the authorities of Ukraine and the UOC escalated in March 2023. Then the leadership of the national reserve ordered the representatives of the UOC to leave the territory and buildings of the Lavra until March 29 due to the termination of the contract. The monks refused to comply with this requirement.

Both sides then went to court. Servants of the Lavra filed lawsuit to challenge the termination of the lease. An application for securing the claim was also filed, which the court later rejected. Since then, the hearings on the claims of the monastery against the reserve and the reserve against the UOC have been repeatedly postponed. Last time, the meeting on the claim of the monks against the reserve was postponed until June 14, and on the claim of the reserve against the monastery – until July 6.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ earlier called what is happening a flagrant violation of the rights and freedoms of believers in Ukraine and compared the ultimatum with “persecution of faith in times of godlessness.” The Kremlin also condemned the actions of the Ukrainian authorities.